I made this tonight to go with the whole Filet Mignon dinner, but this bread pudding is so amazing that it really deserves its own entry. It's an adaptation of Emeril's White Chocolate-Cherry Bread Pudding, with a few serious tweaks...one is that I use dried blueberries instead of dried cherries (we're big blueberry fans around here), and the other is that I use....bagels.
Yes, bagels. Calm down...this is a Culinary Orgasm, I promise:). The bagels are how this actually started - at my old job, the father of the owner used to bring us breakfast every day (god I miss that man), and Fridays were Bagel Day. He used to get upset if no one brought the leftover bagels home, and very often I ended up with them. Staring at the bag one Saturday morning, I started to wonder if it was possible to make bread pudding out of them. The answer is yes...yes yes yes yes YES !!! Bagels are actually perfect - they're sturdy enough to hold their texture when soaked and baked, but soft enough to let all the flavors and custardy goodness of the pudding in. Just make sure you use a plain or sweet type of bagel....this isn't the dish to throw the "Everything" ones in !
The other thing that may seem odd about this dish (if you've even stayed with me this far !) is the white chocolate. As I've mentioned before, I am not a fan of white chocolate...I don't even consider it chocolate. However, what it is...sweet and creamy, with a smooth mouthfeel - is actually perfect in a pudding or custard type dish...it really enhances it.
I have made this for many a family party, and it always meets with rave reviews....try it; you won't be sorry !
Blueberry-White Chocolate Bread Pudding
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons, melted
4 large eggs
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
6 cups 1/2-inch cubes day-old bagels (plain, egg, etc...)
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup dried blueberries
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 10 X 14-inch baking dish with the room-temperature butter.
2. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the cream, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the bread, chocolate, and dried blueberries and stir well, then mix in the melted butter. Pour into the prepared dish.
3. Bake until firm when pressed in the center, about 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack until just warm, about 20 minutes. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
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