Sticky Toffee Apple Bread Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel Drizzle

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding With Salted Drizzle

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Preparation time:25 Mins

Cooking time:50 Mins

Servings:8 generous servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Challah or Brioche bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (day-old or lightly toasted)
• 3 medium apples (Granny Smith/Fuji mix), peeled, cored, diced
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter (for apples)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 Tbsp lightly packed brown sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for custard)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt (for custard)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (for caramel base)
• 3 Tbsp water (for caramel)
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed (for caramel)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, warmed (for caramel)
• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt, or to taste (Maldon)

Instructions:

• Prep the Bread: Lightly butter the 9x13 inch baking dish. If the bread is not stale, toast the cubes in a 350°F/180°C oven for 8 minutes until slightly dried out. Place bread cubes evenly in the prepared dish.
• Sauté the Apples: Melt the 2 Tbsp of butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the diced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sauté for 5–7 minutes until apples are slightly softened but still retain some bite. Remove from heat and scatter the spiced apples evenly over the bread cubes.
• Whisk the Custard: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, whole milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until completely combined. Do not over-whisk.
• Pour and Soak: Slowly pour the custard mixture evenly over the bread and apple mixture. Press the bread down gently with a spatula to ensure all pieces are submerged. Cover the dish and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours) to achieve a velvety texture.
• Bake: Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Place the baking dish into the preheated oven. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out mostly clean.
• Rest: Remove from the oven and let rest for 10–15 minutes while preparing the caramel sauce.
• Make Caramel Base: Combine the 3/4 cup sugar and 3 Tbsp water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat without stirring (swirl occasionally) until the mixture turns a deep amber color (about 8–10 minutes).
• Finish Caramel: Remove the pan from the heat immediately. Whisk in the cubed butter until melted and smooth. Slowly and carefully pour in the warmed heavy cream, whisking continuously until the sauce is smooth. Stir in the flaky sea salt. Allow the sauce to cool slightly to thicken before drizzling over the warm bread pudding.

Nutrition Facts

Calories:925 kcal

Protein:7.2 g

Fat:30.9 g

Carbs:72.6 g

Fiber:9.6 g

Sugar:0.0 g

Sodium:9203 mg

Recipe Info

Category:Dessert

Cuisine:American

Why This Caramel Apple Bread Pudding Is Your New Fall Obsession

There is no dessert more deeply satisfying than a truly well-executed bread pudding. It’s warm, inherently nostalgic, and delivers a perfect marriage of texture and flavour. But this isn't just any version; this is the definitive Caramel Apple Bread Pudding Recipe . We've taken the classic creamy custard base and elevated it into a spectacular autumnal centrepiece, melding the spiced comfort of apple pie with the decadent, sticky richness of a British toffee pudding. The result is a dessert boasting a crisp, golden crust that yields instantly to a meltingly soft, custard-soaked interior studded with tender, spiced apple chunks. When drowned in a generous drizzle of homemade salted caramel sauce, it truly becomes one of the Best Apple Recipes imaginable, cementing its place as the ultimate comfort food for any chilly evening.

The Ultimate Comfort Dessert: Blending Sticky Toffee with Custard

This particular creation achieves perfection through a meticulous blend of technique and ingredient selection, moving beyond the everyday to deliver a dessert that feels both familiar and deeply luxurious. It's essentially a glorious mash-up of American and British dessert traditions, creating a deeply flavoured Apple Pie Bread Pudding experience.

The Magic of Stale Bread: Selecting Your Loaf

The single most critical factor determining the texture of your pudding is the bread you choose. Fresh bread, while delicious on its own, tends to break down into a sludgy, uneven texture when soaked in custard. For the truly best bread pudding recipe, we insist on day-old or lightly toasted stale bread, specifically rich varieties like brioche or challah. These breads offer enough structure to absorb the entire volume of the creamy custard base (a ratio of 5 large eggs to 2 cups of dairy), ensuring the finished product is velvety soft in the centre while retaining distinct cubed pockets that crisp beautifully on top.

Autumnal Spices and the Perfect Apple Pairing

The flavour profile hinges on a classic autumnal spice combination: potent cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg, which infuse the diced apples before they even meet the bread. We don't just use any apples; the secret here is a mix of varieties—tart Granny Smith for a necessary acidic contrast and firm Fuji for sweetness and structural integrity. Sautéing them briefly with brown sugar before baking softens them slightly, allowing them to release their delicious juices directly into the surrounding custard as the pudding sets.

What Makes This Bread Pudding a Zero-Waste Winner?

Beyond its spectacular taste, this dessert is a champion of practicality. The entire concept of bread pudding originated as a means to use up day-old bread that might otherwise go to waste. By taking advantage of this slightly dried-out product, we transform humble leftovers into a sophisticated, impressive, and deeply satisfying culinary masterpiece. It’s an elegant, effective, and delicious nod to traditional, smart cooking.

Gathering Your Culinary Arsenal: Ingredients and Equipment

Creating the ideal texture and flavour for this Caramel Apple Bread Pudding requires attention not only to the ingredients themselves but also to the correct preparation ratios and tools. This recipe involves three distinct, essential components: the bread base, the rich custard, and the dark, sticky salted caramel sauce. Ensuring you have high-quality, measured ingredients ready makes the assembly process seamless.

Essential Components for the Perfect Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

A Detailed List of Pantry Staples and Fresh Produce

The foundation of this robust dish relies on key pantry staples. For maximum richness, we use full-fat heavy cream and whole milk, alongside a high-quality vanilla extract and plenty of unsalted butter used both for sautéing the apples and perfecting the caramel. The required sugars—granulated for the caramel and custard, brown sugar for the apples—are essential for building the layers of sweetness. Don't forget the flaky sea salt, which is non-negotiable for achieving that necessary balancing kick in the Caramel Pudding Recipe .

The Secret to Richness: Mastering the Custard Ratio

The key to preventing a runny or overly spongy pudding lies in the custard’s precise ratio. For this recipe, the ratio is carefully calibrated using five large eggs to bind two cups of total liquid (a mix of heavy cream and whole milk). It is paramount that you whisk this mixture until just combined and slightly frothy, but avoid over-whisking, which incorporates too much air. Using room-temperature eggs and dairy also aids in creating a perfectly homogenous, luxurious mixture that soaks into the bread evenly.

Choosing the Right Apples: Tart vs. Sweet Varieties

As mentioned, the best apples are a blend of characteristics. The tartness of Granny Smith slices through the extreme richness of the custard and caramel, preventing the dish from becoming cloyingly sweet. Pairing these with the firmer texture and natural sweetness of Fuji or Honeycrisp ensures the apple chunks maintain their shape through the baking process, avoiding a complete collapse into mush.

Recommended Baking Dish Sizes and Tools of the Trade

You will need a standard 9x13 inch ceramic or glass baking dish; this size allows for optimal surface area, giving the pudding those desirable crispy edges and a deep enough layer to keep the interior perfectly creamy. For safety and precision, the caramel requires a sturdy, heavy-bottomed saucepan to distribute heat evenly and prevent the sugar from burning or crystallizing. A robust whisk is essential for both the custard and emufying the caramel.

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Baking Perfection

The journey to making the Best Bread Pudding Recipe is one of patient assembly and technical precision, especially when it comes to the caramel. Unlike a traditional Caramel Apple Bread Pudding Slow Cooker preparation, this baked method ensures a superior textural contrast between the crispy top and the soft interior.

The Method: From Soaking the Bread to the Final Drizzle

Preparing the Bread and Infusing the Custard Base

The process begins by lightly buttering your baking dish and preparing the bread cubes. If your brioche isn't quite stale, give it a quick eight-minute toast in the oven to dry it out. Next, melt the butter and sauté the diced apple mix with brown sugar and the spices until they are slightly tender. These spiced apples are then scattered over the bread cubes. Separately, the cream, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt are whisked together to form the custard.

Layering the Apples and Assembling the Dish

Once the spiced apples are layered with the bread, the custard is slowly poured over the mixture, ensuring every bread cube is submerged. This is the stage where patience is vital: the dish must rest, covered, in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes. This non-negotiable soaking time allows the bread to fully absorb the liquid, which is the key distinction between a fluffy, velvety pudding and a dense, dry one.

Achieving the Golden Brown Crust: Oven Temperature and Timing

The pudding is baked in a preheated oven at 350°F (180°C). Baking takes approximately 45 to 50 minutes. You know the pudding is ready when the edges are visibly set, the top is a deep, appealing golden-brown, and a knife inserted near the centre comes out mostly clean. For an even more luxurious, silky texture throughout the custard, consider using a bain-marie (hot water bath) during baking to ensure gentle, even cooking.

Crafting the Silky, Dark Salted Caramel Sauce

The finale is the caramel, which requires focused attention. Combine the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat, allowing the mixture to bubble and darken naturally into a rich, deep amber hue—avoid stirring, only swirling the pan. Immediately remove the pan from the heat before whisking in the cold, cubed butter. Once melted, slowly pour in the heavy cream (which should be gently warmed beforehand to prevent the caramel from seizing up). Finish by stirring in the flaky sea salt for the perfect counterbalance, creating the essential sauce for the definitive Caramel Apple Bread Pudding .

Recipe Troubleshooting and Expert Serving Suggestions

A few common issues can arise when working with a rich dessert like this, particularly concerning the custard setting or the caramel seizing. If your caramel hardens, simply place the saucepan back over low heat and whisk continuously until it melts back into a smooth sauce. If the top of the pudding starts to brown too quickly before the centre is set, simply tent the dish loosely with foil for the remainder of the baking time.

Making Ahead, Storage, and Delicious Variations

This recipe is incredibly versatile and well-suited for entertaining, thanks to its flexibility with preparation timing.

Can I Prepare This Caramel Apple Bread Pudding Ahead of Time?

Absolutely. The best practice is to assemble the entire dish, including the bread, apples, and poured custard, cover it tightly, and refrigerate it for up to four hours prior to baking. This extended soaking period only enhances the texture, resulting in a deeper, more flavourful pudding. Do not bake it entirely ahead of time, as the crust loses its crispness upon cooling and reheating.

Ideal Pairings: What to Serve Alongside This Dessert

This rich dessert benefits greatly from contrasting elements. Serve the warm pudding with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, a dollop of thick clotted cream, or a robust Crème Fraîche to cut through the richness. For a beverage pairing, a small, chilled glass of dessert wine, such as an Oloroso Sherry, or a strong, dark espresso provides a satisfying counterpoint to the sweet, sticky caramel.

Storing Leftovers and Reheating Tips

Any leftover bread pudding should be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. To reheat, you can either warm individual servings gently in the microwave or place the entire dish (covered tightly with foil) back into a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 15 minutes, ensuring the interior warms through without drying out the crust.

Customizing the Recipe: Nut Additions and Alcohol Swaps

To introduce additional warmth and depth, substitute two tablespoons of the whole milk in the custard mix with a high-quality Kentucky bourbon—this Bourbon Boost gives the Apple Bread Pudding Recipe a grown-up richness. For texture, consider adding half a cup of toasted chopped pecans or walnuts into the apple layer. While this recipe is designed for oven baking, enthusiasts looking to adapt this recipe for a slow cooker preparation should be mindful that they may need to reduce the amount of dairy slightly to account for the lack of moisture evaporation during the long, gentle cooking process.