TWD: apple apple bread pudding

For this week's assignment, Elizabeth of Cake or Death? (who i adore by the way) chose the Apple-Apple Bread pudding from pages 408-409 of BFMHTY.

I also adore bread pudding!  I wasn't a huge fan as a child, but I always remember my dearest mommy getting it at restaurants and talking about it.  The first recipe that I ever formulated myself was my eggnog bread pudding which I always love during the holidays, despite the fact that I don't like eggnog!  There is just something comforting about it.  Not too sweet, warms you from the inside...I often eat it for breakfast when I have some sitting in the house (I mean, it's basically the same as baked french toast!) 

I was super excited about baking this recipe.  Also, b/c I have had 5 lonely little granny smith apples hanging out in my crisper for way to long.  I finally got to use them up!

This recipe is fairly involved...toasting, "apple-buttering" and slicing the bread; caramelizing the butter and sugar and cooking the apples; boiling the milk and cream and seperating the eggs (thankfully i had a bunch of yolks in the fridge from a recent white cake).  It just takes time and dishes, but oh is it worth it!  I burnt my first bit of sugar b/c I hadn't finished chopping the apples and was trying to add and chop, but thankfully I still had the time and ingredients to try that again (only used a tiny bit of apple to see if it was ruined).  Everything else came together pretty easily. 

The best part of the night is that my mommy came to visit me!  We had such a special time together.  While I was finishing up the pudding she came and sat on the stool in my kitchen, and ate one of my leftover tres leches cupcakes.  It's funny b/c it was like when I was a kid sitting on the stool in her kitchen while she was cooking :)  Then we watched the Duggars  (my parents remind me so much of Jim Bob and Michelle) while waiting for it to bake and had a wonderful time talking and laughing and looking at things on Etsy.  When it was time for her to leave I loaded her up with cupcakes, a fourth of the bread pudding, and cookie dough to feed my brother and sister who have recently moved back in after college.  I like to take care of her after all the years of her taking care of me :)

After she left I broke my "no eating after 8 pm" rule and had a little ramekin full of the bread pudding...and then another...it is so delicious!  I am debating on taking it to work or saving the rest for myself this weekend...I think the pudding will be a nice soft treat/breakfast after I get one of my wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday...so I guess it's staying here.  sorry guys!

Thanks so much to Elizabeth for picking this fabulous recipe, and check out the TWD leave-your-link post to see who baked along this week!