A CHOCOLATE LOVER’S DELIGHT

There’s nothing quite like baking aboard to lend a homeyness to a cruising boat. And when you find yourself in cool climes—as we did heading up the inside passage from the Salish Sea to southeast Alaska aboard Del Viento, our Fuji 40—firing up the oven and filling the cabin with warm smells is a pleasure every time. It was in those cruising grounds that we began experimenting with bread puddings. Whether sweet or savory, variations of bread pudding are found in cuisines worldwide. You can use just about any kind of bread, but French bread or challah is best. Following the traditions of the Southern US, we lean toward the sweet version; we like French bread, and being chocoholics, this recipe is a favorite. The cinnamon adds a complexity that reminds us of Mexican chocolate. Because bread puddings can be served warm or cool, we didn’t stop enjoying them once we moved on to the tropics. In fact, being surrounded by cheap fresh baguettes upon landing in French Polynesia meant we tended to overbuy for our family of four. Day-old bread is ideal for bread pudding, and this recipe was always a popular way to consume the excess (slightly stale) loaves.