Baked Apples With Cranberry Bread Pudding & Caramel Sauce
- Ready In:
- 3hrs
- Ingredients:
- 15
- Serves:
-
12
ingredients
- brioche bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (enough for 6 cups)
- 6 lbs golden delicious apples (about 12)
- 3⁄4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1⁄2 cup dark molasses
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1⁄2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1 1⁄4 cups fresh cranberries, each cut in half
-
FOR THE CARAMEL SAUCE
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2⁄3 cup granulated sugar
- 2⁄3 cup whipping cream
directions
- FOR THE BAKED APPLES & BREAD PUDDING ~ Preheat oven to 200 degrees F with an oven rack in the lowest position.
- Bake cubed bread in a large rimmed pan for 40 to 45 minutes or until crisp, then set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, peel the top quarter of each apple &, using a melon baller, scoop out the stem, core & enough of the inside so that walls of apple are about 1/2 inch thick, being careful not to break through the bottoms of the apples. If necessary, trim the bottoms slightly so that apples sit upright.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, butter, eggs, half-and-half, ginger, vanilla & nutmeg, blending well.
- Increase oven temperature to 325 degrees F, & as it heats, bake pecans in a shallow pan 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.
- Add bread & cranberries to the molasses mixture, tossing to coat, then let stand, stirring occasionally, for some 12 minutes, or until 2/3 of the liquid is absorbed.
- Stir in the pecans, then generously stuff the apples with the bread mixture, mounding it. Set the apples in a 9"x13" baking dish & a smaller shallow dish, which will probably be necessary.
- Bake about 1 hour or untile ach apple is very tender when pierced, checking after 40 minutes. Tent loosely with foil if they are getting dark.
- Serve warm in shallow bowls (with vanilla ice cream on the side, if desired), topped with warm caramel sauce.
- FOR THE CARAMEL SAUCE ~ In a 3- to 4-quart sauce pan over high heat, stir butter & sugar 2 to 4 minutes or until mixture is caramel-colored.
- Remove from heat & add whipping cream, stirring the foaming mixture until blended, then reture to high heat & stir another 1 to 2 minutes or until caramel sauce comes to a rolling boil.
- Serve warm.
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