Many of the recipes in Savor New York books come from cooks who “neveruse recipes”, preferring to cook by intuition. Once you’re comfortable with ingredients and basic processes, “throwing a dish together” is creative, enjoyable time spent in the kitchen.
This classic bread pudding is a perfect example of cooking creativity. Maple sugar may be substituted for brown sugar, dried cranberries for raisins, pears or blueberries for apples, and honey for maple syrup. The possible combinations are numerous. The only constant ingredients in this favorite comfort food are good bread for the base, and milk and egg for the custard. Everything else is up to you. Play!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Leftover good quality bread, cubed or torn
- Cinnamon
- Dark brown sugar
- Raisins
- New York cooking apples
- New York maple syrup
- 3 eggs per every cup of whole milk
- Butter
Butter a baking dish of desired size. Generously cover the bottom with torn bread. Top with sliced apples, dot with raisins, and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over all. Drizzle with maple syrup. Repeat the layer again, and then one more time, if you’d like.
Whisk three eggs into each cup of milk, making enough to saturate entire bread mixture. Dot with butter and bake until middle is set and top is browned.
To gild this lily further, serve with sauce of sour cream thinned with a little orange juice, and sweetened to taste with maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar.
