Corn Pudding

This year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner completely on my own. Ordinarily, we go to my Mum’s house and she makes an awesome dinner with every possible dish imaginable. I usually only contribute a side dish and a dessert. This year due to extenuating circumstances, we were not able to attend her feast and I was faced with having to cook one for us all by myself! (Yikes!) Although it was somewhat daunting, I think I did fairly well once all was said and done (or eaten as the case may be). One of the dishes my Mum always prepares for Thanksgiving is corn pudding. Now that I think of it, Corn Pudding is usually available on every holiday. I think it is a classic Southern dish. Certainly very popular on both Tilghman Island ( a little island in the Chesapeake Bay where I grew up) as well as Smith Island ( a more isolated island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, where my Da grew up). Both Jay and I really like it, so I wanted to give it a whirl. Although I didn’t achieve the level of yumminess that Mum’s pudding does, it was still pretty tasty. Mum doesn’t actually add vanilla to hers, but we are both huge vanilla fans so into the mix it went. I also only used two tablespoons of sugar, whereas Mum says you can add up to four. As with most recipes handed down in families, the amounts of any given ingredient were not given to me in cold, hard fact form, but in “add it to taste” and “oh, about a tablespoon or so”. You know how it goes. Mum usually bakes it in a square baking dish (8″x8″), but an oval gratin pan works as well as little ramekins. Though with ramekins the cooking time will be reduced. Just watch them and remove them from the oven once the top is set. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Corn Pudding

recipe from: My Mum!

Ingredients:

• 1 – 15 oz. can creamed corn
• 2-4 Tablespoons Sugar (to your taste)
• 2 Tablespoons Bisquick
• 2 eggs-lightly beaten
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract
• 1- 12 oz. can Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 stick ( 4 Tablespoons) of butter-melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

In medium-sized bowl combine creamed corn, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Place Bisquick in small bowl and add a small amount of pet milk, stirring until it is smooth and no lumps remain.

Add Bisquick mixture to corn mixture.

Add the rest of the can of Evaporated milk to corn mixture and stir until combined.

Place 1/2 stick of butter in dish you wish to bake the pudding in. Microwave the butter until melted. Swirl the butter mixture around the inside of the dish until sides are coated.

Pour corn mixture into buttered baking dish.

Place corn pudding dish on baking sheet to protect your oven should it boil over.

Bake for 75 minutes or until top of pudding is set.

Enjoy!

Pop-pop Roy’s Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings

My Granddad, “Pop-pop Roy”, as I called him when I was younger, loved these Apple Dumplings. Grandda wasn’t a big sweets eater. Other than those Apple Dumplings, my only memory of him indulging in any sugary treat was Ginger Snaps. He did love his Ginger Snaps. I have fond memories of sitting on his lap when I was about 4 or 5, watching “Hogan’s Heros” and sharing those cookies. He would put each cookie on his knee, put his thumb right in the center and press down. The cookie would neatly break into 4 equal pieces and he’d give two to me and take two for his own.

Granddad at 2 1/2 years. He's the little one in the white hat.

Other than those cookies, desserts were scarce in his house. But he did have a weakness for Apple Dumplings. My Mom would always make up a batch of Apple Dumplings for him on Thanksgiving. In fact, he would always make sure to inquire a weeks or so ahead of time as to whether they were on the menu or not. (They always were 🙂 )No matter what manner of other exotic and alluring desserts were up for grabs that day, he would always choose the Apple Dumpling. Mom would then package up several more for him to take home.

Couldn't resist another of these pics. Granddad is the one in the middle.

Granddad passed away at the age of 91 in 2008. We still make his Apple Dumplings on Thanksgiving.

Pop-pop Roy (1917-2008)

As it turns out, my husband also loves Apple Dumplings. When we were first dating, we went to my parents house for Thanksgiving Dinner. Like Grandda, Jay chose the Apple Dumpling, topped with a bit of vanilla ice cream (of course!) for his dessert. We had been doing the South Beach Diet pretty intensely in the months leading up to this and had decided to totally ignore it for the day and eat whatever we wanted. Well, the incredibly tasty and sweet Apple Dumpling was quite a shock to his previously sugar starved system and he went into a sort of sugar coma. Unfortunately it was while he was driving us home! You know how you sometimes say that a particular treat is “to die for”? Yeah, well we almost did! I guess it wasn’t really that bad. It just involved him attempting to continue straight on as the road turned. I can just see us trying to explain it to the law…”No really Officer, I haven’t been drinking. It was Pop-pop Roy’s Apple Dumpling!” It all ended just fine. No harm done. I was not in a sugar coma and after the swerving, believe me, I was wide awake. I switched places with him and drove us the rest of the way home, while he slept it off. The experience did not scare Jay away from Apple Dumplings at all, though he definitely respects their power now. And he made sure I learned that recipe from my Mom. Indeed I did and I just made up a batch.

Hot out of the oven!

They taste fantastic! I used my beloved HoneyCrisp apples for these, and yes, I use a whole apple rubbed in cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg for each dumpling. Then I top each sugar and spiced apple with a knob of butter and cover them with a short crust. Once they are completely enrobed in that buttery pastry, I drizzle a decadent gooey cinnamon syrup over them and pop them in the oven to bake. The house smells amazing!

The Apple Dumplings are delicious! And they remind me of my Granddad. Make some for your family this Fall;  they will absolutely swoon. Just make sure no one has to drive that evening!

Pop-pop Roy’s Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings

Recipe from: my Mum!

yield: 6 Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon plus more for dusting apples
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg plus more for dusting apples
• 1/4 cup butter plus more to dab onto each apple before covering with pastry
• 6 small to medium apples

for the pastry:

• 2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Add sugar, water, cinnamon and nutmeg to saucepan. Cook on medium heat until sugar melts and mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add butter. Stir until incorporated.

Pare and core apples. Set aside.

Place flour, salt and baking powder in food processor. Pulse just to combine. Cut chilled butter into 1″ cubes. Add to flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once and pulse until dough forms.

Place dough on lightly floured surface. Roll out 1/4 inch thick. Cut into six 5 inch squares.

Arrange an apple on each square. Sprinkle generously with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Dot with butter.

Fold pastry around apple until it is entirely covered. Place Dumplings 1 inch apart in greased  9×13″ baking pan. Pour the prepared syrup over the dumplings.

Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is browned and apple is softened. You can check the apple texture by poking it with a wooden skewer or knife. If pastry is getting to brown, but apples aren’t yet soft enough, cover with foil.

Enjoy! but remember – friends don’t let friends drive under the influence of these dumplings!

Peter Reinhart’s Best Biscuits Ever

After making all of these wonderful jams (Strawberry Balsamic, Blueberry Lemon & Chilli, Vanilla Bourbon Blackberry and Hard Cider Apple Butter), I decided we needed some sort of delicious biscuit to perch these stellar spreads upon. I’ve mentioned before that I am a huge fan of Peter Reinhart’s. Well, I noticed in his book, Artisan Breads Every Day, that he had a recipe for the “Best Biscuits Ever”. How could I resist the best biscuit ever? So I got busy baking them. These biscuits are a cross between a cream biscuit and a flaky buttermilk style biscuit. Quite tasty, though I’m not sure they win my “best biscuit ever” award. I once made these Bacon & Cheddar Skillet Biscuits that were pretty high up on the “best” scale. But then I guess that is no surprize…I did mention they had bacon in them right? (note to self…blog about those biscuits soon) But these biscuits are certainly close behind those and are great for non-enhanced (ie. full of bacon and cheese) biscuits.

Just look at those flaky layers!

I know I’ve previously mentioned the absolute necessity that you purchase a copy of Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, but in case you missed it, here it goes again…you must buy this book! Its full of all sorts of great recipes and information. For example, he gives you the “Keys to a Successful Flaky Biscuit”. I’d say that is pretty valuable information to have. Basically it boils down to cold dough and hot oven. Though he explains things much more interestingly, eloquently and thoroughly. He also mentions that you can also make these biscuits using buttermilk in place on the cream, which I think I will try next time. (So…you can see we really did like them…we’re already thinking about the next time we make them!) If you’re looking for a great home-made biscuit for your thanksgiving table, or a spectacular vehicle for jams and apple butter that can stand all on its own, look no further. You’ve found your biscuit!

Peter Reinhart’s Best Biscuits Ever

recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day

yield: 10 Three inch biscuits or 20-24 two inch biscuits

ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ( 1 oz/ 28.5 g) apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
• 1 cup (8 oz/227 g) cold heavy cream
• 1/2 cup (4 oz/113 g) cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup (4 .5 oz/128 g) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (3.50z/99 g) pastry flour (if you do not have pastry flour, use all-purpose flour or see tip below for making it yourself)
• 1 Tablespoon (0.5 ox/14 g) sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (0.5 0z/14 g) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (0.13 oz/ 3.5 g) salt, or 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Directions:

Stir the vinegar into the cream to acidify it, then refrigerate it to keep it cold. Place the butter in the freezer, for at least 30 minutes, to harden.

Whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl.

Place cheese grater in / over the bowl of dry ingredients. Remove the butter from the freezer, unwrap it and grate it through the large holes into the dry ingredients, tossing the butter threads in the flour mixture as you grate to distribute them. (An alternate method is to use the grater attachment on a food processor, with the dry ingredients in the bowl below).

Use your fingertips to separate and distribute the butter pieces evenly. Add the cream mixture and stir with a large spoon until all of the flour is hydrated and the dough forms a coarse ball. Add a tiny bit more cream if necessary to bring the dough together.

Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface, then dust the top of the dough with flour. Working with floured hands, use you palms to press the dough into a rectangle or square about 3/4 ” thick. Use a metal pastry scraper to lift the dough and dust more flour underneath. Dust the top of the dough with flour as well, then roll it out into a rectangle or square about 1/2″ thick. Then, using the pastry scraper to help lift the dough, fold it over on itself in three sections as if folding a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, then once again lift the dough and dust more flour underneath. Dust the top with flour as well, then once again roll it out into a square or rectangle about 1/2″ thick and fold into thirds. Give the dough another quarter turn and repeat this procedure again. Then, repeat one final time. (four roll outs in all)

After the fourth folding, dust under and on top of the dough one final time, then roll the dough out to just under 1/2″ thick, in either a rectangle (for triangle or diamond-shaped biscuits) or an oval ( for round biscuits).

Cut the biscuits with your preferred cutter. A 2″ biscuit cutter will yield 20-24 small biscuits. The 3″ cutter yielded 10 biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased sheet pan (lined with parchment paper or a silpat) placing them about 1/2″ apart.

Let the biscuits rest for 15 to 30 minutes before baking to relax the gluten; this will create a more even rise (even better, place the pan of biscuits in the refrigerator to chill).

About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C).

Transfer the biscuits to the oven and lower the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C). Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 6-10 minutes, until both the tops and bottoms of the biscuits are a rich golden brown.

Place the pan on a wire rack, leaving the biscuits to cool on the hot pan for at least 3 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

***If you are having a difficult time finding pastry flour, you can make your own by combining all-purpose flour and cake flour. To make two cups, combine 1 1/3 cups (185 grams) all-purpose flour with 2/3 cup (90 grams) cake flour.

To read more about flour take a look here :http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html#ixzz1abHvzDfV

A Tale of Two Apple Butters – Tipsy Sweet & Drunken Granny

Did I mention that apples were my favourite fruit? Yup, they sure are and they are now in season! My favourites are the apples that are very crisp. I really hate a mushy apple (sorry Red Delicious… you are right out! ) I prefer Honey Crisps, Jonagolds, Winesaps…. you get the picture.

There’s plenty to choose from at the markets now and I am in heaven! I have never made Apple Butter, so bolstered by my recent preserve making successes, I decided there was no time like the present and got to it. I read over the River Cottage Preserves Handbook and decided to use their recipe for Cider Apple Butter, but with a bunch of extra spices and some extra booze thrown in. No not Jack Daniels, but I can understand why you might have guessed that particular spirit. I used a bit of Calvados that I happened to have on hand. I also used Hornsby’s Cider which is a dry hard cider. The “dry” bit that I’m referring to means that in most of the natural sugar has been fermented out as the cider is made. Other brands of dry cider easily available include Woodchuck or Strongbow. If you wanted to use a non-alcoholic cider, remember that you will likely need to reduce the overall amount of sugar in the recipe, due to the sweetness of the unfermented cider.

For my first batch ( yes there will be a second…hence the tale of two butters thing in the title) of hard cider apple butter, I used my favourite Honey Crisp apples.The apple butter was very easy to make. The most difficult bit was all of the paring and coring in the beginning. I guess if you have a food mill or sieve to strain the cooked mixture through, you don’t even have to worry about doing that prep work and can remove the peels and seed etc. after cooking. I decided that it would be easier to just spend a bit of time with the apples beforehand. It was worth the effort. My Tipsy Sweet Apple Butter has a great flavour and perfect spreading consistency.

I must say though, this batch was really sweet. I know, I know…its Apple Butter, which is generally sweet. But I thought I might like a more tart version. Since the butter was so easy to make, I got to work straight away on my second batch, in which I used Granny Smith apples.

These apples are not an apple I would reach for if I was just eating one for a snack. But I knew they have the more tart flavour that I was looking for. I also reduced the amount of sugar from 2/3 cup per cup of apple pulp to 1/2 cup sugar per apple pulp. The only other change to the recipe was that I went a wee bit heavier with the cinnamon and upped it to a full teaspoon. This Drunken Granny Apple Butter was exactly what I was looking for. Great flavour, but not as sweet as my Tipsy Sweet variety. I decided to include both recipes since I know everyone’s taste varies and this will give you some options.

So I’m counting my apple butter making foray a success. We do have quite a bit of the stuff now (look out friends and family…there may be some Christmas Apple Butter coming your way), but we’ve been steadily using it up. We’ve been eating it on toast, in oatmeal, straight out of the jar.

And oh…I was inspired to make some lovely biscuits to spread it over.

Stand by for that Peter Reinhart biscuit recipe…it’s a winner. But I don’t know which one was the star of the show, the biscuit or the scrumptious apple butter. Hmmm….let me take a few more bites and I’ll consider. 🙂

Tipsy Sweet & Drunken Granny Hard Cider Apple Butters

yield: Five 8 oz. jars

ingredients for Tipsy Sweet:

• 3 lbs. 6 ounces of Honey Crisp Apples, peeled and cored
• 2 1/2  Cups Dry Hard Cider
• 1/2 Cup Calvados Apple Brandy
• Turbinado Sugar – 2/3 cup per cup of apple pulp
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

ingredients for Drunken Granny:

• 3 lbs. 6 ounces of Granny Smith Apples, peeled and cored
• 2 1/2  Cups Dry Hard Cider
• 1/2 Cup Calvados Apple Brandy
• Turbinado Sugar – 1/2 cup per cup of apple pulp
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Fill a large pot with tap water. Submerge five 1/2 pint (8 ounce) jars and their lids, making sure they are completely covered by the water. Boil the water.

Wash, peel and core the apples. Chop them into big pieces. Place in a large pan with the cider, 1/2 cup of apple brandy and 2 cups of water. Cook gently until soft, then remove from heat.

Drain liquid from apples. Place softened apples in blender or food processor to puree. Measure the volume of fruit pulp and return it to the pan. Add 2/3 cup sugar if you’re making Tipsy Sweet or 1/2 cup sugar if you’re making Drunken Granny (I used turbinado, but you can use granulated if you prefer) for every one cup of apple pulp. Add the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice and vanilla bean to the apple pulp and stir to combine.

Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then turn the heat up to bring mixture to a rapid boil for 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture reaches your desired consistency. Remove vanilla bean prior to placing in jars.

Remove from heat and ladle apple butter into sterilized jars. Using tongs, pick up the full jam jars and place them back into the boiling water for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove the jars and place them on the towel. As they cool, you should hear a ping type noise which tells you the jam jars are sealed. When you push down in the center of the top of the jar, there should be no click noise. Make sure the lids are sealed tightly. Once jars have been opened, refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Ebelskivers filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream Cheese

Just in time for the decadent food-laden Thanksgiving Holiday, here you have a delicious recipe for Pumpkin Pie Ebelskivers filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream Cheese. “Ebelskivers?” you may ask. Ebelskivers are round pancakes which originated in Denmark and are perfect for breakfast, appetizers or snacks. You will of coarse need one special piece of equipment to make these goodies-namely the Ebelskiver Pan. My husband received one for his birthday a couple of years ago. The ebelskiver turners, long, carved wooden sticks, are great to have, but you could possibly get by with chopsticks, wooden skewers or even knitting needles in a pinch.

Ebelskivers are incredibly versatile. The batter can be savory or sweet and the sky is the limit as far as what you would like to stuff inside the little guys. I have made Nutella & Banana filled Peanut Butter Ebelskivers as well as Cadbury Egg Stuffed Easter Ebelskivers in the past. For Thanksgiving, I wanted to work pumpkin into the mix so I made a pumpkin / graham cracker batter (for those of you in Ireland and the UK you could substitute digestive biscuit crumbs for the graham cracker crumbs if graham crackers are difficult to come by) and decided to stuff each wonderful morsel with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream cheese.

But I wasn’t finished there. Oh no. Then I dusted confectioners’ sugar over the tops of these gorgeous stuffed pancakes. The results were wonderful, a sweet pumpkiny taste followed by the soft, creamy tangy cream cheese filling. Mmmmm….Perfection!

If you didn’t want to bother stuffing the ebelskivers with the cream cheese mixture, you could add a bit of superfine sugar to the cream cheese vanilla mixture and maybe thin it down a bit with some milk and then drizzle it over the top of the ebelskivers as a frosting. I dare say, maple syrup would also be quite tasty over these little gems. Surprize folks over the Thanksgiving holiday with this tasty treat!

Pumpkin Pie Ebelskivers filled with Vanilla Whipped Cream Cheese

Yield: 20 Ebelskivers

Ingredients:

For the pancakes:

• 1/2 Cup ( 1 1/2 oz./45 g) Graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 Cup ( 1 1/2 oz/45 g) All-purpose flour
• 1/4 Cup ( 2 oz/60 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1 can (14 oz/440g) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted  and slightly cooled
• 1 can ( 15 oz/470g) pumpkin purée
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

For the filling:

• 1 Cup whipped cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C).

In a large bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and , using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter alternately with the pumpkin purée in 2 additions, just until well blended and no white streaks remain.

In a separate bowl, mix the whipped cream cheese and the vanilla extract together until well blended.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the melted butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add 1 tablespoons batter to each well.

Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into center of each ebelskiver.

Add 1 Tablespoon of the batter to each well, covering the dollop of cream cheese completely.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the other side, about 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in the oven while you repeat to make 2 more batches. Dust the warm ebelskivers with confectioners’ sugar and serve right away.

Recipe from “Ebelskivers” by Kevin Crafts

Harvest Apple Bread Pudding with a Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce

Now that Halloween is over and I’ve got all those spooky treats out of my system, I can get back to my Fall  fresh apple obsession. This recipe is part two of my covert mission to hide some morsels of the Harvest Apple Challah bread that I made a short time ago, for the purpose of making other tasty treats with it. First I managed to make some lovely Harvest Apple French Toast with a bit from my hidden stash. Then I made these two charming little ramekins of Harvest Apple Bread Pudding. And I couldn’t just stop there… Oh No! I went ahead a whipped up some mouth-watering Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the top. The recipe below actually makes about 1 cup of the stunning salty-sweet concoction, which is quite a bit more than you’ll need here, but you’ll be very happy to have it around. This sauce is really quite good and goes well over ice cream, baked apples, pancakes, you name it. It’s even good squirted right out of the bottle ( not that I would be doing that… in public anyway 🙂 ). I did drizzle some right over the tops of my Harvest Apple Bread Pudding though. The result was absolutely scrumptious.

This recipe, like my previous Harvest Apple French Toast, calls for “Maple Sugar”. Maple Sugar is made from the sap of the sugar maple tree and is significantly sweeter than granulated sugar. It can be found in the sugar section of most large grocery stores, or if not in your town, it can be order online. (I’ve seen it on Amazon.) I mentioned that you could swap it out for granulated sugar if you wanted, but you might want to increase the sugar amount a bit and probably won’t get as mapley a taste. However, the sauce does call for imitation maple extract, so that might just be enough for you.

Once my husband got his hands on this dessert, all secrecy and hoarding behaviour on my part was forgiven. (He actually didn’t even suspect a thing…I’m that good!) We devoured these puddings in no time flat! So if you haven’t made the Harvest Apple Challah yet, get baking! You don’t miss out on this delicious Harvest Apple Bread Pudding!

Harvest Apple Bread Pudding with a Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce

yields: Two 8 oz. Ramekins

Ingredients:

For Bread Puddings:

• 2 cups 1/2-inch cubed Harvest Apple Challah bread
• 2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk or heavy cream if you’re feeling particularly decadent
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Maple sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

For Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce:

Yields: 1 cup

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 5-6 drops of imitation maple extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, or until toasted.

Combine milk, maple sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and egg in a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Add toasted bread cubes and toss until coated. Gently push bread down into liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter the inside of two 7-8 oz. ramekins. Divide the chilled bread/egg mixture evenly between the two ramekins.

Place ramekins in an 8-inch pan and add about an inch of hot water. Bake, uncovered, for about 35 minutes or until set.

While the puddings are baking, prepare the Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar. Whisk until sugar melts and mixture is thick and boiling. Slowly whisk in cream. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking often, though not constantly. Boil until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Whisk in coarse salt and maple extract.

Just prior to serving, drizzle each pudding with the salted maple-caramel sauce.

Enjoy!

Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce Recipe from Bon Appetit as seen on Epicurious

Harvest Apple Bread Pudding Recipe adapted from Chocolate Bread Pudding for Two on Craving Chronicles