Apple Bread Pudding

I love apple-based desserts. So often their cinnamon-flecked flavour is reminiscent of apple pie, but they often double as breakfast fare -- and they're a lot less difficult to make than pie. Any recipe that captures that apple pie flavour but doesn't require the same effort is worth a try, in my books. And if I can justify eating a sweet for breakfast? All the better.


Enter Anna Olson's Green Apple Bread Pudding. Or rather, my version of it, plain-old Apple Bread Pudding. You can use any type of baking apple (McIntosh, Empire, etc.) in this dish, or even the original Granny Smith Anna suggests.


Using lighter cream than the recipe's original heavy cream, you can justify serving it for breakfast. Be sure to serve it with a generous splash of maple syrup on top.


Keep reading for the recipe.


Green Apple Bread Pudding
Yield: 6
5 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 large baguette, cubed
1 cup apple, peeled and diced
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups table or half-and-half cream
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
sugar
maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking dish with half the melted butter. Toss bread cubes and apples remaining melted butter and spoon into baking dish.
2. Whisk together egg yolks, whole eggs, and sugar. Whisk in cream, milk, and vanilla. Pour over bread cubes and press down gently on bread to help soak in. Let stand for about 15 minutes.
3. Place baking dish in a water bath (boiling hot water in a pan large enough to contain the bread pudding's pan--I used a 9"x13" pan) and sprinkle top of pudding with sugar. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the center of the pudding springs back when pressed.
4. Remove baking dish from water bath. Serve warm, with maple syrup available to pour on top.