Almond Bread Pudding With Salted Caramel Sauce Food

BREAD PUDDING WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Beat eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in milk, cream, 1 1/2 cup sugar, rum, vanilla extract, and salt until mixture is thoroughly combined. Gently stir bread cubes into the egg mixture to coat. Let bread soak until the egg mixture has been absorbed, about 1 hour; stir occasionally.
• Dissolve 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water and vinegar in a heavy saucepan. Place over high heat and cook without stirring until the sugar mixture is dark amber in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until it stops bubbling. Gradually stir 1/4 cup water into the syrup, about 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until water is incorporated.
• Pour warm sauce into a 9x9-inch baking pan and swirl the pan so the caramel sauce coats the bottom and sides of the pan. Let caramel sauce set, about 15 minutes. Coat inside of baking dish and caramel layer with butter. Transfer soaked bread cubes and any remaining liquid into the baking dish over caramel sauce and gently press bread cubes together. Cover pan with parchment paper.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place baking pan into a large roasting pan and pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the pan and invert pudding and caramel sauce onto a serving platter.

ALMOND BREAD PUDDING WITH SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• For almond butter:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread out almonds on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, tossing halfway through, until beginning to brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool.
• Transfer cooled almonds to a food processor. Add butter, almond extract, if using, and salt, and process until mixture is the texture of coarsely ground peanut butter. Set aside.
• For caramel sauce:
• Whisk sugar, cream of tartar, and 3 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, without stirring, until mixture begins to caramelize in spots. Using a heatproof spatula, stir mixture to ensure even caramelization. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is the color of honey, 10-12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until caramel is a deep amber color, about 5 minutes longer.
• Remove caramel from heat; carefully whisk in butter (mixture will bubble vigorously), then cream and salt. Let cool slightly in pan, then pour into a small bowl. DO AHEAD: Caramel sauce can be made 2 weeks ahead. Let cool completely, cover, and chill. Rewarm before using.
• For pudding and assembly:
• Combine half-and-half and cream in a medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; remove from heat.
• Whisk egg yolks, eggs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into egg mixture. Cover custard with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes for flavors to meld. Strain custard into a large bowl; discard vanilla bean.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter cake pan; set aside. Using biscuit cutter, cut out circles from each slice of bread, reserving scraps. Arrange bread scraps in pan in an even layer and press lightly to compact.
• Spread each bread round with almond butter (you will have a little left over; save to spread on toast for breakfast). Place all but 1 bread round almond butter side down in pan (on top of scraps), overlapping slightly to create a shingled circle. Place the last round in the center (bread will come about 3/4"-1" above rim of pan).
• Pour custard evenly over bread. Sprinkle with almonds and raw sugar.
• Place cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of cake pan. Cover roasting pan with foil, tenting slightly in center if needed to avoid touching bread.
• Bake pudding until top no longer jiggles but center is not quite set, 25-30 minutes. Remove foil from pan and increase oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pudding until custard is set in the center and top is golden brown and crisp, about 25 minutes longer.
• Remove cake pan from roasting pan. Let cool slightly. Dust pudding with powdered sugar. Slice into wedges. Place on plates, drizzle caramel sauce over and top with a dollop of crème fraîche.

SALTED CARAMEL BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Combine the cream, butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter melt, then slowly simmer the cream until it reduces slightly, about 10 minutes. Be careful that the mixture doesn¿t boil over; if it does, reduce or remove from the heat.
• Break the bread up into 1-inch pieces. Day-old bread is best but any bread will work. Place the bread in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch-by-8-inch cake pan.
• Add the reduced heavy cream mixture to the bread pieces and mix until combined. Transfer to the prepared cake pan and sprinkle the kosher salt over the top. You want just a light sprinkle to give it that salty and sweet taste. Bake until firm in the middle, like brownies, about 20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

ALMOND BREAD PUDDING WITH STRAWBERRY CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut croissants into 1/2 inch pieces and place into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
• In medium mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, and both extracts. Pour mixture over croissants and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Dot with almond paste and sprinkle almonds on top croissants. The baking dish will be full so handle carefully and place in 350 degree oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until inserted knife in center comes out clean.
• While this is baking prepare Strawberry Caramel Sauce. Over medium heat in heavy saucepan cook sugar and stir with wooden spoon. Continue cooking and stirring until sugar is melted and a deep amber color, approximately 20 minutes. Stir in one cup of cream and the mixture will bubble. Add remaining cream and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until caramelized sugar is completely dissolved. Remove pan from heat and stir in strawberries. Serve over bread pudding.