Apple Bread Pudding with Cider Caramel Sauce
Makes about 6 servings
You can use any day-old, slightly stale bread to make bread pudding. If your bread isn’t stale, just give it a brief toast in the oven. For a softer pudding, cut off crusts and/or use a white sandwich bread. A thermometer helps make sure the cider reaches the proper temperature to thicken into caramel.
For the bread pudding:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
- About 10 ounces of day old bread
- 2 ½ cups cream or milk (or combination of both)
- 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the caramel:
- 4 ounces Mountain Cider Co spiced cider concentrate
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons cream
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a medium pan on top of the stove. Pour off half the butter and set aside. Add the chopped apples to the pan and cook in the butter over low heat until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally as the apples cook.
Meanwhile, spray a 9×9 inch baking or casserole dish with cooking spray. Cut your bread into rough cubes and add them to the pan as you go. In a large bowl, whisk the milk/cream, eggs and yolks, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until combined. Pour this over the bread cubes and let sit for 15 minutes to saturate the bread.
Toss the apples into the bread mixture. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter and put the pan in the oven to bake. Bake for roughly 45 minutes, checking for doneness after about 35 minutes by pressing lightly on the pudding. It should be mostly firm without any signs of liquid.
While the pudding bakes, make the caramel. In a small pan, simmer the cider concentrate until it reaches 230 degrees. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the butter, cream and salt until combined. The caramel will be on the thinner side, but will thicken as it cools.
To serve, drizzle the caramel over the warm bread pudding and slice into pieces. Top with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.
