Peaches and cream sourdough vanilla-bean bread pudding with rose petal and chocolate truffle sauce...solar baked

It has been an amazing week full of sun-cooked meals and today I have to share one of my favorite comfort desserts! It is a tender custard with deep flavor that lingers on your tongue and settles like a wave of love in your soul. Yes. It is that good. The secret of course is using a really remarkable full-flavored sourdough bread. I'm not talking about a regular bread dough with a little vinegar, I'm talking about a long, slow-fermented, full-throttle loaf of bread. Apple Sourdough is my favorite. If you don't have an Apple Sour Starter (yeah I just gave you the link to the starter) and a homemade sourdough loaf, then by all means, find a good baker who will make one for you. 

Here's my recipe:

• 4 cups  Apple Sourdough bread cubes, about 1/3 the loaf
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup powdered milk (I don't know why I prefer this but I do!)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar or natural sugar alternative
• 1 tsp  LorAnn Madagascar Vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 tsp crushed dehydrated rose petal (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Saigon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dry freeze dried peaches (fresh peaches use 1 cup chopped. Reduce water by 1/2 cup)

Directions: Find your coolest whisk. Flick all the ingredients except the bread in a medium sized bowl and crank the whisk around until everything is mixed really well. It also helps to wear some kind of ceremonial batter-whisking garb...I'm not showing you what I was wearing. Use your imagination. The hat alone, complete with hot-pink rick-rack and google-eyed troll dolls is worth seeing. No. I'm still not showing you my secret hat... I digress. 

Place the bread cubes in a 3 quart casserole.

Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Pause. Sniff the pan and notice how delightful it smells. Giggle with glee. Try not to look like an idiot. 

Cover and place in a pre-heated solar oven (regular oven you'll need to increase the water by 1/3 cup).
Bake at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours solar (1 1/2 hour regular oven).   Remove from oven. Use a hot-pad. Seriously. Don't hurt yourself Tiger. 

Now. Drizzle with some rum ganache...aka...chocolate truffle sauce.
Evil Truffle sauce

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 tsp LorAnn Rum Bakery emulsion

Sauce directions: In a small pot, bring whipping cream and rum emulsion to a boil. Place chocolate in a 1/2 quart metal mixing bowl. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and mix well with a wire whisk until smooth. Dip your face in the bowl and suck the sauce down like a freak-of-nature. Optional. Yeah. When sauce has chilled slightly, it will thicken like a chocolate truffle. Feel free to just put the glorious wad of chocolate right on top of the warm bread pudding...

In a minute or two, it will cascade down the mountain of fluffy custard like a waterfall of glory. At this point, a spoon to eat the confection is recommended, but I never enforce that rule.  Just remember to wipe your face and nostrils before you open the front door and your bishop and his wife are standing there with a welcome-wagon pie...that's embarrassing. Of course, you could invite them in for some custard...and a spoon. 

There you go my darlings! A delightful and completely remarkable dessert. It is comforting, classic, and just down-right pretty!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess