Recipe: CHOCOLATE WEEK: CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING WITH WALNUTS AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS

There exists a contingency of people -- the author of this recipe newsletter among them -- who feel that dessert is not worth the trouble or calories if it does not involve chocolate. In honor of those people, we offer a week of indulgent chocolate recipes. This one, which is perfect for a cool-weather dinner party, comes from epicurious.com and originally was printed in Bon Appetit magazine in January 2007.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups 1-inch cubes egg bread with crust (about 6 ounces)

1 1/4 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, broken into 1/2-inch pieces

1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided

1 cup half and half, divided

5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup sugar

Lightly sweetened whipped cream

DIRECTIONS

Toss bread cubes, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and toasted walnuts in large bowl to blend.

Whisk 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup half and half and cocoa in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Add remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips; stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Gradually whisk in remaining 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup half and half. Whisk eggs, egg yolk and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in chocolate-cream mixture. Stir into bread mixture. Let stand 1 hour for bread to absorb some of the custard.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter six (1- to 1 1/4-cup) ramekins. Divide pudding mixture among ramekins. Bake puddings until set in centers, about 40 minutes.

Top warm puddings with whipped cream and serve.

Makes six servings.

This story was originally published October 5, 2009 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Recipe: CHOCOLATE WEEK: CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING WITH WALNUTS AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS."