Chocolate brioche pudding

Ingredients

• 350 g brioche loaf bread (ideally 1 day old or left overnight to dry), cut into 4–5 cm cubes
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• Vanilla ice cream, to serve

For the custard

• 3 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
• 2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 600 ml milk
• 120 ml thickened cream
• 100 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 300 g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease an 18 cm x 28 cm glass or ceramic baking dish with butter. Place the brioche cubes into the baking dish. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and set aside.
2. Combine the ingredients for the custard in a medium saucepan, mixing well to combine, then place over the heat, stirring continuously until the butter melts, sugar dissolves and the chocolate has melted – take care not to overcook the custard. Remove from the heat. Reserve 1½ cups of the custard in a jug for later.
3. Pour the remaining custard over the brioche, gently pressing down on the bread to ensure it is fully moistened. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pudding is slightly set and a little wobbly – best to aim for underbaked rather than overbaked.
4. While the pudding bakes, return the reserved custard to a small saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly for a few minutes, or until the custard thickens to your liking.
5. Divide the chocolate brioche pudding between plates and pour over the chocolate custard. Serve warm, with vanilla ice-cream.

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