This extremely rich dessert came to be because a.) I needed something to take to Thanksgiving in Brooklyn. b.) My parents had sent me a ton of Jacques Torres white chocolate for Halloween and I needed for it to stop tempting me. c.) Bread Pudding is freaking delicious and the addition of white chocolate could only make it better! I have the luxury of working at a bakery and being able to basically "borrow" as much brioche as I "need." If you do not have access to brioche try using challah or a plain old french white loaf. This bread does not need to be fresh. The concept of bread pudding was born out of a recycling "waste not want not" mentality. You have stale hard crusty bread? Don't throw it away. Make bread crumbs, panzanella, put it in soup or even better, make bread pudding! I love white chocolate and raspberries and thus, wanted to make a little raspberry sauce to accompany the bread pudding. It also give adds a little color to the plate. I used a recipe I found from Food & Wine online, however it is actually from a restaurant called the Palace Cafe in New Orleans.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/white-chocolate-bread-pudding
I had used a ring mold from work that is really easy to work with. It's just a metal ring. You simply cover one opening and up the sides in foil to make your "pan." Before I put my bread pudding mixture in though, I wanted to make a caramel sauce for the top of the pudding. In a sauce pan heat 3/4 cup of sugar and a little water, enough to just dissolve the sugar. When it turns a golden brown color add a little butter and stir fast! Caramel will go from perfect to ruined in about 20 seconds. Coat the bottom of the ring mold (the foil part) with the caramel. Just spray the sides with Pam spray and fill it up with the bread pudding. Once the bread pudding is done and cooled, if you have a ring mold, just flip the pudding over like an upside-down cake and take off the mold and foil. I actually did not make the white chocolate sauce to go with it, but I might try that next time. Instead, I made a raspberry sauce out of good raspberry preserves and water. Put a 2:1 ratio of raspberry preserves to water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and strain the seeds out. Add a few fresh raspberries to the hot sauce and on top of the cooled bread pudding for color.
