Chocolate Bread Pudding

For dessert, I made Chocolate Bread Pudding. My friend Phil originally made this for me in high school when I had my wisdom teeth removed. It's rich and chocolate-y without being too sweet. It's best served warm but I've been known to eat it straight from the fridge.

4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 cups 1-inch cubes of white bread
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Whisk together eggs to salt in large bowl. Stir in bread and let sit 5 minutes. 3. Stir in chocolate chips and raisins and transfer to a buttered 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake pudding in a water bath in the middle of the oven until custard is just set, about 40 minutes.
Yields 8 servings.

I usually make this with challah bread which I think lends a more buttery texture. I also use 2% milk and leave out the raisins (bleh). It's important to let the bread soak for a while (I recommend 10-15 minutes) so you don't get dry spots. Lastly, I don't bother with the water bath. The custard has more structure than normal custards due to the addition of bread.