Chocolate & Chile Bread Pudding

A great thing about cooking for yourself is that you can cheat on your food. For example, I had dessert for dinner last night! I had a major chocolate craving and I found this recipe on Gourmet Magazine. This is a quick recipe and your probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now. The bread pudding quite chocolatey and not spicy at all, but if you add a scoop of ice-cream, it makes this even better!

INGREDIENTS (makes 1 serving)

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter plus additional for greasing ramekin
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened or extra-bitter), chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup cubes (1/2 inch) firm white sandwich bread (from about 2 slices)
• vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter ramekin or 1 muffin cup.
2. Cook butter (1 tablespoon), cream, chocolate, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, and a pinch of salt in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in egg until combined. Fold in bread cubes and let stand 5 minutes.
4. Fill ramekin with bread mixture and bake until puffed and set around edge but still moist in center, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.