Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

There are a few things that are indicatively true about having an abundance if apples in the fall. Number one, they make a great ingredient for fall desserts, and two, they are made better with caramel. Okay, that last part I just added because I love caramel. Seriously, what isn't made better with caramel? The answer that you are looking for is nothing. Caramel can make anything better. In fact, tonight I just botched a sweet pumpkin dip recipe, and I may just add a little caramel to make it edible.

Back to the apples. I do have an abundance of apples after going to Sauvie Island a few weeks ago, so I needed something to make that seemed fallish. We all know I have a giant sweet tooth that is the size of my entire mouth, so a dessert seemed to be the obvious choice. My mom makes a fabulous bread puddling which I have been meaning to make, but I decided to update the recipe a bit with apples instead of raisins. It turned out amazing.  I will definitely log this in the keeper pile. Below is the how to. It is actually pretty simple although it seems intensive.

Here is the inspiration for the recipe. Apples and cinnamon bread.

What you will need:

Bread pudding
2/3 of a loaf of cinnamon bread (you may also use Texas toast or french bread) cut into 1-inch squares
4 whole eggs (I took out 1.5 of the yolks to make myself feel healthier)
1C sugar
4C Almond Milk (you may also use whole milk)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Sauteed Apples
2 large seasonal apples (granny smith works best if you are getting them out of season)
2 T butter
2 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Caramel Sauce
1/2 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C heavy whipping cream

To start, mix all ingredients except the bread in a large mixing bowl. In a large bowl, pour the mixture over the cubed bread (shown below). Fold the bread using your hands or a large wooden spoon until all the pieces are soaked. Let this sit for about half an hour. In the mean time, saute the apples.

To saute the apples you will first need them pealed and cut into thin slices. I like to cut them with the hole in the middle, but you can do whatever you'd like. Over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar. Once melted at the apple slices. Saute until the apples are soft. It is necessary to stir often.

You can assemble the pudding into layers. If you are baking a big dish (i.e. 9x9 pan) add half of your bread, then half of the apples. Add the remainder of the bread mixture and then the last of the apples on top. I used individual baking dishes. If this is the case, use the same assembly, but make sure to even the liquidy and chunky pieces between dishes. Once assembles it should look like this:

At this point, you can either bake it right away, or keep it in the fridge overnight. To cook, bake on 350 for 45-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown. When the dish has about 20 minutes left, make the caramel sauce to allow for time to cool.

To make the caramel sauce, add all ingredients in a sauce pan. Let boil for four minutes or until mixture starts to slightly thicken stirring frequently. Then, let cool. I had no idea it was this easy to make caramel before making this recipe. It was so easy to make this, I will probably never buy caramel again. I was so good too! I kept what was left over in the fridge and used it for ice cream sauce. Okay, technically, the sauce didn't make it that far. I actually used it for finger sauce...

Some of these ramekins I waited for 24 hours to bake. I just left them in the fridge, and I have to tell you, I think they were better the next day. I think waiting for the bread to fully soak is the trick. It is more custardy, so if that is what you like in bread pudding, it was worth the wait. This was great with just the caramel sauce, but it would also be good with a bit of vanilla ice cream on top.

Yum!

Until next time...