chocolate-cherry (okara!) bread pudding

Do you make more than one batch of soymilk at a time? If so, you might be able to use up a lot of okara if you make this recipe, which calls for nearly two cups of the stuff!



I took one loaf of Trader Joe's par-baked ciabatta bread, which I did not bake as directed, and cut it into cubes. The package said the loaf was 8 ounces, but the scale said it was more like 11 ounces! In any case, I ended up with
7 cups of cubed Italian bread

Take these bread cubes and distribute them evenly along the bottom of a well-oiled 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan.

Sprinkle  
1/2 cup dried cherries
 on top, ensuring that they are evenly distributed.

 

In a small pot over low heat, mix together  
3 cups soy milk 
12 ounces chocolate chips 
2/3 cup sugar
until the chocolate has completely melted and is fully incorporated into the milk. Pour half of this chocolate mixture into a blender along with  
1 3/4 cups okara 
1 tsp. vanilla (I used vanilla paste!)
Liquefy completely. Add the rest of the chocolate mixture into the blender and blend thoroughly (if your blender is big enough -- otherwise do this in two batches).

 

When chocolate-okara mixture is completely liquefied, pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes. Pat any floating cubes down into the chocolate mixture with a spatula or spoon to ensure that all of the bread is covered.




In a bowl, combine  
1 cup cherry preserves 
1 tsp. lemon juice
thoroughly. Pour the cherry mixture evenly over the bread-chocolate mixture.



Cover the bread pudding with foil and allow it to sit for 30 minutes before transferring it to a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. Bake for an hour and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. (I think it tastes better after cooling completely.)


 

Verdict: I think this tastes great, but it might be fun to experiment with liquids aside from soymilk. Perhaps coffee or some kind of liquor could give this dessert a deeper and richer flavor. But I'm not going to complain about a cherry-chocolate combination, and this was pretty easy to make!