Description
A rich, comforting holiday dessert featuring stale brioche soaked in a spiced apple cider custard, baked until golden, and served with a luxurious salted bourbon caramel sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 loaf (16-20 oz / 450-550g) stale brioche or challah bread, cubed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (for greasing dish)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup reduced apple cider
- ½ cup salted caramel sauce (divided)
- 1 cup heavy cream (for sauce)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed (for sauce)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar (for sauce)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for sauce)
- ¼ cup bourbon (for sauce)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (for sauce)
- Optional: Toasted pecans or walnuts, fresh thyme sprigs, whipped cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with butter.
- If using fresh bread, spread cubes on a baking sheet and toast at 300°F (150°C) for 10-15 minutes until dry. Let cool completely.
- In a large bowl, whisk together heavy cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and reduced apple cider until smooth.
- Stir in ½ cup of caramel sauce into the custard mixture.
- Place bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Pour custard evenly over bread, pressing down to ensure all pieces are soaked. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes until top is golden brown and center is set. Tent with foil if browning too quickly.
- While pudding bakes, make the sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, butter, brown sugar, and bourbon. Whisk constantly until simmering.
- Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and sea salt.
- Let pudding cool for 10 minutes. Drizzle with remaining caramel sauce and warm bourbon sauce. Garnish with pecans and thyme if desired. Serve warm.
Notes
Use stale bread for best texture; if fresh, toast it first. Reduce apple cider by simmering 2 cups down to ½ cup for concentrated flavor. The pudding can be assembled the night before and refrigerated overnight before baking. Add 5-10 minutes to bake time if baking from cold. The sauce will thicken as it cools; add warm cream to thin if needed.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice with sauce
- Calories: 580
- Sugar: 45
- Sodium: 320
- Fat: 32
- Saturated Fat: 18
- Carbohydrates: 65
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 12
Keywords: apple cider bread pudding, bourbon sauce, holiday dessert, brioche pudding, caramel sauce, make-ahead dessert, fall recipes