A month or so ago I received a high tea cookbook from the PR company for Dilmah Tea. Along with the book came an invitation to submit a recipe for their contest. The contest is for recipes where Dilmah tea is used in some way, either a recipe or a pairing.
I flipped through the book and everything looked so beautiful and there were exquisite dishes incorporating tea leaves, tea or infusions. Nothing popped into my head until I made a loaf of brioche bread last week.
A year or so ago I was at the weekly cooking class that I go to in order to chat with other food loving women (usually all women) every Friday morning and one day my friend Iris who teaches the classes did a white chocolate bread pudding with raspberries. I wondered, could I infuse tea in the cream before making the custard?
Well, the answer is yes. Yes, indeed you can.
Dilmah has a rose petal and vanilla tea that has the most beautiful aroma I’ve smelled. I was almost like Pepe LePew following a scent. I knew from the first whiff that I was going to give it a try.
I heated the cream to just under boiling 90C (194F) and popped two tea bags in the cream and set it aside to cool. When it was at room temperature I squeezed out the tea bags and used the cream as you’d normally do when making custard.
Can I say again, how wonderful this smelled? Still, smelling and tasting were two different things and it needed to “taste” tea in order for it to be considered by the contest.
After slicing and buttering the brioche and placing it in a buttered pan, I poured over the white chocolate custard and tumbled in some frozen raspberries. I figured raspberries being red might go well with the rose petal theme. Plus, I love raspberries.
As I slid it into the oven and poured water halfway up the side of the dish I thought, “Please work.” I did this because I had NO plan B for my entry.
50 minutes later I checked the oven and it was nearly done – and lightly golden brown when I took it out of the oven. When it had cooled, I took a photo of it and then plated and photographed a dish of it. THEN I called John down and said, “Take a bite and tell me what you taste?”
“Hmmm, vanilla and something else – sort of rosy,” he said.
I kissed him and said he was really good! Then I explained why I asked. At first I didn’t notice but he kept eating as we were talking. John usually doesn’t like desserts and he has always said he hated bread pudding, so why was he still eating?
“This is really good, Maureen. I don’t like bread pudding and I can’t put it down.”
So, I think I’ll submit it.
- 2 bags Dilmah Rose with Vanilla Exceptional Tea (or your favourite flavour)
- 200 grams white chocolate
- 1½ cups (375 mls) cream
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup caster/superfine sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 loaf brioche bread cut into slices (my dish didn't hold a whole loaf)
- 50 (3½ tbs) grams softened butter
- 100 grams (3/4 cup) fresh (or frozen) raspberries (I used frozen)
- 1 tbs demerara or raw sugar
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Hours before or overnight, bring cream to nearly boiling and place the two tea bags in the cream. Set aside to cool. When cool squeeze the bags and toss. Use or store the cream until needed.
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320F
- Grease ovenproof dish with butter
- Heat chocolate and cream over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until well combined.
- Spread bread with softened butter and place in casserole dish
- Combine egg mixture and chocolate mixture and pour over bread
- Add raspberries on top
- Sprinkle with demerara (or raw) sugar
- Let stand for ten minutes for the bread to soak up the custard
- Place in the oven in a water bath halfway up the side of the casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and just set
- Dust with icing sugar before serving warm
Maureen, I’m glad someone else talks to their food 🙂 This looks amazing and I love the idea of infusing the cream with delicious tea flavor. I would say the old saying “the proof is in the pudding” was verified by your taste-testing hubby! I declare you the winner in advance! 🙂
Chris, that’s high praise coming from you! Thanks so much for the comment.
Now that is very clever Maureen, and quite beautiful too; I wish you the best of luck in the contest (not that you need it!). I can certainly see how tea can be an incredible flavour in a recipe, I may have to try it with chai tea and panettone. My MIL adored bread pudding!
Oh I don’t think I’ll do anything in the contest. I just wanted to thank them for the cookbook and hope that the PR company wants to work with me. I do one gimme. 🙂
Smell is so important with food isn’t it! And this sounds like it has it all in one-smell, taste and texture! 😀 And it’s always funny hearing John’s reactions to the food 🙂
Maureen, Can you believe that I’ve never made bread pudding before. It looks so delicious. So glad it’s convinced John that not all bread pudding is bad 🙂
I hadn’t either before last year 🙂
This bread pudding looks wonderful, Maureen. I love infusions in cream or milk for puddings, ice creams, pastry creams custards etc, and I think your infusion of the rose vanilla tea along with with the white chocolate, is brilliant. It looks beautiful too!
I’ve never done an infusion that smelled like that ! It was divine.
If you made this you’d infused it with something wonderful so let me know if you try it 🙂 I’ll be a copycat.
Great idea to use the tea, it certainly made me stop and think. Definitely a recipe for Mr Glam it has all his favourite things in it. GG
Let me know if you try it. Maybe you’ll infuse the cream with something I can’t resist. 🙂
Definitely sounds like a winner! I’ve not done much with tea infusions, but I really like the idea (and we drink tea every morning, so we have plenty available). This looks excellent. Plus it’s a good story. Thanks.
I’ll be honest I hadn’t either and still woudln’t have done it without the cookbook from the PR company 🙂
Oh my gosh, raspberries and white chocolate and tea and dessert! So much goodness 🙂
It was very very good 🙂
Maureen, I gasped at this bread pudding. So inviting! Believe it or not but I am awful at making one, I confess! 🙂 Oh how I wish to have a slice of yours w/tea now. BTW a touch of brilliance there with the tea infused…:)
I was too until I realized I wasn’t letting it sit long enough before baking. My first ones were pretty crap. John wouldn’t eat it. LOL This time I used less bread, more custard and let it sit 20 minutes before baking.
This pudding sounds like it has everything one could want in dessert 🙂
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Come up for some anytime 🙂
I’m really intrigued by the tea infused cream. What a brilliant idea!
I wasn’t the first to infuse cream with tea but the flavor of this tea was so beautiful that I couldn’t resist.
I don’t have bread pudding often. But when I do, I always enjoy and savor the experience. I love your use of tea. I’m sure the subtle taste of tea is wonderful in this bread pudding. This looks absolutely delicious. 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment. It means a lot to me. This dessert was really good. 🙂
Ooh, delicious looking bread pudding! I love the sound of that tea-infused cream.
I’d never tried it before but I’m definitely going to do this again. Thanks so much for coming by!
Maureen, I was also trying to think of various ways to use tea in recipes. I remember seeing recipes for ‘tea-smoked’ fish or meat- using smoked tea leaves. This might give the food an unusual taste. I like the look of your new yellow teapot in the background!
LOL John saw the photo and said, “Okay maybe I was wrong about the teapot but NOT that koala one!”
Oh our poor husbands. For us it’s not the ‘does my butt look big in this?’ it’s ‘what does this taste/look like.’ They take a look/bite and answer with baited breath.
I would have given this one a thumbs up too!
John has no problem telling me that something “isn’t quite as good as I thought it would be, dear.” lol High praise is, “that’s all right, isn’t it?”
It does sound like a winner, Maureen. I’m not a big fan of rosewater in syrups but I do like rosehip jam so I’m conflicted about the results … I’d like to give it a try though. 🙂
I like your plating as well and am curious what the spoonful of ‘stuff’ is sitting on the plate. The angle/aspect is perfect. I’m so jealous.
It’s thickened cream. It’s just plain ordinary cream but it’s really thick and we can buy it in the grocery stores here. Since John was going to be my tester I used that because he loves cream. He’d have cream with cream if he could. 🙂
Loving the teapot Maureen. White chocolate, raspberry, rose and vanilla in one mouthful – what’s not to love about that? Looks divine on the plate too.
Thank you, Nancy!
Maureen: This is my type of dessert: delish and very comforting…I wish I was in Australia so I could sit at your table and chat with you while eating this wonderful white chocolate bread pudding.
I’d really enjoy that, Denise!
Love vanilla! Love anything with vanilla in it!! Even more than chocolate.
Looks and sounds divine!
I think you have a winner here, Maureen.
This is absolutely divine Maureen. I swear I can almost smell it. I need to try this.
I have a strange love/hate relationship with bread pudding. I tell myself I don’t care that much for it, then I find myself looking up recipes for it and making it, then scarfing it down. It’s like the bad boy I want to leave but can’t. I think that you have added another bread pudding to my list of ones to make. White chocolate and tea? Yep. I’m there.
Hi Janet, I was just looking at your pear and cristalized ginger quick bread and maybe we should just swap 🙂 I love it.
This does look like a fantastic dessert and especially good for this cooler weather. I hope you do submit the recipe and I’ll look forward to hearing how you get on. John did very well with this dessert – he made all the right noises! xx
Thanks, Charlie. I did submit but that’s the end of it. the next step is to do one of those cook-off things and I doubt I’d hold up. 🙂
This looks so so good!
Thanks Mimi, and I appreciate the visit and the comment!
lol John’s approval says it all! ^.^
We love bread pudding during the rainy season, its so comforting. Maybe I might be able to get this tea brand here. I ll surely check it out! =)
Let me know if you can because it’s divine to smell 🙂 and not at all overpowering like rose water
What a great idea Maureen!! Like John, I don’t usually like bread pudding either, but this I’ll have to try. Only now I need to find that tea. I’ll check out Harney’s here to see if they have something similar.
P.S. Good luck with the contest!!
Thank you very much 🙂
I’ll bet the aroma in your kitchen was nearly intoxicating, loveliness floating in the air. Yes, the true test of a recipe is the enthusiasm in which we partake — sounds like you have a winner. 🙂
I’d love to lose some weight but not with a dessert like that! 🙂
I love bread and butter puddling and this a great use of the rose and vanilla tea!! I will have to try it. I used that tea in my Dilmah challenge last year 🙂
This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this re: Dilmah. So what did you make?
I love the idea of infusing tea in cream! Very creative indeed. Thanks for the recipe
Thanks Lisa !
What a creative dessert idea – and I love rose flavoured sweets… but, I also DO love bread puddings… the less dense and more custardy ones.
YUM!
🙂
Valerie
Yes me too. I don’t enjoy the ones that have been crammed full of bread leaving no room for custard. 🙂
let me put some tea on, this will be perfect xo
Promise??
How very creative of you, Maureen! This aroma of your bread pudding and that cream must be irresistible together. yum!
it was an outstanding dessert
Brilliant idea Maureen with infusing the tea flavor into the cream making this white chocolate bread pudding. I look forward to making this soon. Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe 🙂
I hope you let me know if you try it 🙂
Such a tempting bread pudding, I love the tea infused cream!
It was creamy, sweet and smelled very subtly of rose buds and vanilla.
I love that you talk to your food..me too! Love the look of your pudding, and that tea-infused cream just sets it off!!
LOL I talk to a lot of things. 🙂
Bread pudding has come a long way since my childhood when it came in one form and that was that. This would classify as a gourmet bread and butter pudding.
We didn’t do bread pudding when I was a kid but I really like it if it’s not too bready. I like a lot of creamy custard.
Maureen, I swear everything you make looks so dang gorgeous! I just want to gobble this pudding right up!
if you come over, I’ll make it again 🙂
Hello Maureen, another gorgeous dessert from your kitchen! Love the idea with the tea infused cream.
Cheers 🙂
Thank you so much. The tea smells wonderful! Imagine putting your nose into a vanilla scented rose.
Wow, so creative, infusing tea in the cream, I only can imagine how tasty and flavorful this bread pudding is…like that you have raspberry in it. Looks awesome.
Thanks for the recipe Maureen and have a lovely week 🙂
Thanks, Juliana, it was delicious!
I really love this idea Maureen. Such a great way to take a classic dish and give it a new twist!
Oh how sweet. I am so glad he liked it. I had intentions of doing a recipe and it just didnt happen. Good luck I hope you win, what great flavour combinations
Looks divine! I love bread pudding especially slathered a buttery bourbon sauce. Love your take on this classic, and can’t wait to try it. Best of luck in the contest!
a buttery bourbon sauce??? from Bourbon Street perhaps? LOL Thanks heaps!
That bread pudding looks soooooo va-va-voom, soooo erotic ! I’m sure tasting it would be goddamn orgasmic 🙂 😀
Hugs and love.
It definitely was 🙂
I have been waiting for this post ever since I saw the picture! 😉 I have never made bread pudding but now think I need to bump bread pudding up on my baking list. I’m a tea drinker, so the tea infused cream sounds divine!
cool Claire.. if you try it, let me know what you infuse the cream with
Good luck with the contest! It looks like a winner to me.
Thanks Barbara, I had no intention of winning. I just wanted one good enough to enter 🙂
Tea infused creams in desserts are fabulous- Glad you gave it a try.
When I was in culinary school , we had to create a “high concept” dessert menu, for which I made a Jasmine tea infused creme brulé that I loved. Hmmm.. now that I’m thinking of it, I’ll have to revisit that one sometime soon.
That sounds brilliant!! I’m going to try that one!
Oh Gisele that creme brûlée sounds wonderful. I. want. 🙂
Oh my goodness this looks good! I love the idea of the tea infused cream. I bet the rose scent of the tea really makes this bread pudding something special! Your pictures show what a lovely dish this is.
You should try this one 🙂
Thanks MJ. I’ve eaten enough of this to need larger clothes 🙂
Wow!! I missed this one. What a great looking pudding….rose petals, vanilla, tea…what a unique combo, that too infused in cream….deliciousness personified!!!
The tea was rose petals and vanilla. NOTHING smells as lovely as poking my nose in that box of tea the first time. 🙂
Very unique and delicious looking pudding!
I must say that I’d loooooooove to taste it 🙂