Happy Holidays!

In my family I am the designated dessert maker. Okay, okay. I designated myself dessert maker about 6 years ago, when I decided I was tired of store bought pies. I always try to make something new and different. I've got a contingent of anti-chocolaters, a majority are chocoholics, and then there is my Uncle who won't eat anything I make, so he doesn't count at all.

This year I decided to do a bread pudding. After perusing a few recipes, I settled with a panettone bread pudding that had an amaretto cream sauce. The recipe is herewww.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/panettone-bread-pudding-with-amaretto-sauce-recipe/index.html

Having no chocolate dessert would have caused an uproar, so I paired my bread pudding with the following alcoholic hot chocolate recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/hot-chocolate-drink-recipe/index.html

So, for the bread pudding, I found the panettone at the grocery store in a box in the bakery section. And when I opened it, it smelled delicious! I trimmed off all the outer crust, and cubed the pieces. I put them in a 13 x 9, and covered it with the cream/custard mixture. I let it sit in a cool, but not cold, room for about 45 minutes. Every ten minutes I'd press the bread down into the custard mixture to make sure it was soaking. Then I popped it into the oven and baked it slightly longer than the recipe called for. My grandma's oven is old, and not so hot.

While the bread pudding was baking, I prepared the amaretto sauce and the hot chocolate. Nothing special to say about the amaretto sauce. I probably could have used a little more cornstarch, because it didn't thicken as much as I would have liked. But the flavor was very nice, and the yield was plenty to cover the bread pudding.

On the hot chocolate, I doubled the recipe. I put the milk and cream on the burner to let it come to a low boil, and while I waiting I measured out some of my other ingredients. I do not recommend doing it that way. Measure out your ingredients first, because once the milk comes to a boil, it quickly goes from low to high to "OMG ITS BOILING OVER ON MY GRANDMA'S ELECTRIC RANGE AND NOW EVERYTHING SMELLS LIKE BURNT MILK!!!" Yeah, you get the picture. Now, I can tell you that the boil over was not the end of the world, and the hot chocolate still turned out delicious. But it was an awful mess, so watch your pot.

A useful tip here. I couldn't find the Dutch processed cocoa powder. You should not use regular cocoa powder when the recipe calls for dutch processed. But you can convert regular cocoa powder to "dutch processed" by adding 1/8th a tsp of baking soda per 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Worked fine for me.

My final recommendation on the cocoa is that homemade marshmallows would have been fantastic. I used fresh whipped cream, and while it was nice, I think marshmallows would have been better. And, of course, sprinkle some shaved chocolate over the top, because it makes things look classy classy.

I'll be honest, this was not the best pairing. Each dessert on its own was delicious, but served together and at the same time they were too sweet, and a little overwhelming. I probably could have served the bread pudding, then waited a bit and served the hot chocolate. Also, hot chocolate works better when its cold. 65 and sunny in So Cal is not really the weather for hot chocolate! But this hot chocolate would be awesome around a fire in a snowy state.