As soon as you thought it couldn’t get any better. We hit you with our Apple Strudel Bread Pudding. YUM!
Is bread pudding a breakfast or dessert?
It’s both! This warm, delectable Apple Strudel Bread Pudding can be served as either. Breakfast walks a fine line with dessert anyway. Among those “dessert for breakfast” items are: pancakes (a flat cake doused in liquid sugar), french toast (dunked in a vanilla custard and fried, I mean come on now), muffins (yes muffins. It’s an unfrosted cupcake), pastries (obviously), just to name a few. Yes, you’re eating dessert for breakfast and without any hesitation we say, “Yes please!” to that.
Is this your first time making bread pudding?
You might be asking what type of bread can be used. The answer is nearly any type of bread. That is the great part! White breads tend to taste a bit better they are not as dense as wheat bread. The most common breads used in bread pudding are French Bread or Brioche.
Historically, bread pudding is made with left over bread which has gone stale along with eggs and milk. You will find many bread pudding recipes still utilizing stale bread today. Which will require you to leave your bread out overnight. However, here at Salt Cellar & Sugar Pot we prefer to make our bread pudding with fresh bread. We don’t feel stale bread is key to making a delicious bread budding (although it has it’s purpose in a recipe). So…if you don’t have stale bread laying around or you just prefer the taste of fresh bread (like we do), you don’t have to use day old bread.
Deciding to use an Apple Strudel bread was all in all a great idea. It added a touch of sweetness and texture to the bread pudding along with a streusel baked on top. It turned out amazing! In addition, we also topped our Apple Strudel Bread Pudding with a warm Apple & Craisin compote. We especially enjoyed having this on hand as a warm sweet treat during the massive snowstorm we had this week.
Apple Strudel Bread Pudding makes a great dessert as well and will keep for a couple days. It pairs well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delish!
Ingredients
Bread Pudding:
1 2-lb loaf of Apple Strudel bread, cubed
8 large eggs
1 8-oz package of cream cheese, cubed
1 pint half n half
2 cups Mayan Cocoa Coffee Fontina Cheese, cubed
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 Tbsp crystallized ginger, chopped
5/6 tsp golden brown sugar ( 1/2 tsp + 1/3 tsp)
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
Streusel
1/3 cup golden brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup all purpose flour
6 Tbsp salted butter, shredded
Apple & Craisin Compote
1/4 cup pear juice
1 tsp orange orange zest, or orange peel seasoning
1 large cinnamon stick (6 inches)
2 Granny Smith apples, cubed
1/3 cup Craisins
Instructions
In a greased 9x13 baking pan you will want to layer a third of the cubed Apple Streusel bread, a third of the Fontina cheese, and a third of the cream cheese, repeat two more times. Sprinkle the top with the crystallized ginger.
In a larger bowl whisk together, eggs, half n half, cinnamon, all spice, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Pour over bread and cheese in 9x13 pan. Cover and refrigerate over night.
The next morning preheat over to 350"F
In a medium mixing bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter. Mix by hand to create a crumble.
Remove bread pudding from refrigerator. Sprinkle streusel over your bread pudding in 9x13 pan. Do not cover, place pan in oven to bake for 1 hour. If bread pudding is getting too brown on top place foil over pan to prevent further browning.
While bread pudding is baking, in a sauce pan place pear juice, orange zest, cinnamon stick, apples, and Craisins. Simmer on medium heat until apples are soft.
Serve the compote over the bread pudding and/or serve with vanilla ice cream.