Bacon & Chocolate bread pudding

So I often get asked about my love for bacon, and for my lack of bacon recipes on my bacon-named blog. I love bacon, of course. I don't want to alarm anyone, but I also love bread. And cheese. And vegetables (I know), hence my range of incredibly diverse recipe's on the blog. One of the things I love most about cooking is how much you can achieve with just a little experimenting, and of course devouring the delicious results. This time, I wanted to bring back the bacon a bit. But not just bacon in bacony recipes. I wanted to put bacon somewhere a bit different. In bread pudding. 

Having made myself a lovely challa bread with some gorgeous Shipton Mill flour (excuse the plaiting, it was my first time), I didn't want all that effort to go to waste and so decided on some bread pudding. Then of course the mind starts to wonder, and my thoughts led me to creamy pockets of meting chocolate juxtaposed with salty, crispy nuggets of bacon. Now what is not to love in that dream?

Yes everyone thought I was a weirdo. But then they tried it, and experienced the pockets of melting chocolate with the salty, crispy bacon nuggets. I'll say it again: salty, crispy bacon nuggets. 

Bacon & Chocolate bread pudding

Quantites: 8 large squares

Timings: 1.5 hours

Kitchen Stuff: baking tray (about 20cm), mixing bowl, baking paper, frying pan

Ingredients:
150g Chocolate (mixed milk and dark), broken up into little pieces
100g smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
300g white bread, preferably a day or two old
400ml whole milk
2 small eggs, beaten
40g golden caster sugar
40g dark muscavado sugar
60g salted butter, melted
Ice cream - to serve (optional)



Method:

1. BREAD: Preheat your oven to 180C. Tear your bread into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the milk and scrunch with your hands until the bread has absorbed the milk and is completely broken up.

Add the eggs and sugar, stir until all incorporated and set aside for 15 minutes to soak up.

2. BACON: On a high heat in a large frying pan, fry the bacon bits until golden and very crisp. Transfer to a piece of kitchen paper to drain and cool.

3. BREAD, BACON, CHOCOLATE: Mix 80g chocolate and half the bacon into the bread mixture. Mix until all incorporated. 

Butter and line a suitable baking dish, around 20cm. Mix the melted butter into the mixture and transfer to your baking dish. Scatter the top of the pudding with the remaining bacon and chocolate pieces.

4. BAKE: Bake for about 1 hr 15 mins. Check after 45 minutes, if the top is starting to brown too much, cover with a sheet of foil.

When ready, remove the bread pudding from the tin, cut into squares and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. YUM.