White Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding (from World Food Championships 2014)

Ingredients

Custard:
3 c whipping cream
1 c. milk
½ c. sugar
10 oz. white chocolate chips
2 whole eggs
7 egg yolks

Bread:
24” Italian, French, or Cuban Bread

Fruit:
2 pts. Raspberries

White Chocolate Sauce:
16 oz white chocolate chips
1 c. whipping cream

Raspberry Drizzle:
1 pt Raspberries
¼ c. sugar
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP cornstarch
1 c. cold water

​Whipped Cream:

¾ c. whipping cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ c. powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large sauce pan, heat whipping cream, milk, and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in white chocolate. Stir until melted. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs & egg yolks. Slowly pour in a small amount of white chocolate cream and whisk. Slowly pour remaining cream in a steady stream, whisking continuously.

Cut bread into small cubes. Half fill ramekins with cubed bread. Top with blackberries. Pour 1/8 c. white cream over bread. Using fingers squish bread down. Top with more bread. Again, pour 1/8 c. white cream over bread. Using fingers squish bread to soak with cream. Add more cream as needed to soak bread. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, increase temperature to 375 degrees and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Heat white chips and whipping cream over medium heat until melted.

In a small pot, combine raspberries, cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, and water. Cook over medium heat until raspberries have broken down and sauce thickens. Push sauce through a cheesecloth or sieve to remove seeds.

In a cold mixing bowl, beat heavy cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar until stiff. Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe a rosette beside plated bread pudding.