By my standards, this is the number one comfort dessert. This recipe is so good that I adapted it from my recipe that called for much larger portions—I used it at a hotel where we served about 25,000 meals daily. The original recipe called for eighteen gallons of milk. It should be no surprise that my original bread pudding recipe serves approximately 1000 people a day.
TIP: I like to use day-old French bread in my bread pudding recipe because it has more flavor than plain white. Cinnamon-raisin bread, croissants, sweet rolls, brioche, challah, and panettone can also be combined for part of the bread. Puree some seasonal berries for a sauce or serve with a vanilla sauce.
Apple-Raisin Bread Pudding Muffins
Makes 10-12 servings
chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle
2 Granny Smith or baking apples, peel, core, and chop small
3-4 cups dry French Bread, cubed small
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped small
1/2 cup raisins, *plumped
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
4 cups milk, or use half milk and half & half
8 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup pure cane sugar, sugar can be slightly reduced if using sweetbreads
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons fresh grated orange zest
In a small saute pan, saute apples in 2 Tablespoons butter to soften slightly; remove and cool.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine the milk, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, and nutmeg, and beat with a whisk until well blended. Slowly pour over the bread mixture. Press down on the bread until it’s completely covered with the milk mixture and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Add raisins and 1/2 of the cooled sautéed apple.
Grease a regular-size 12-cup muffin pan with butter or use muffin cup liners or individual ramekins.
Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place bread pudding batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three-quarters full. Add the remaining apples on top of the batter.
Place a pan larger than the muffin pan in the preheated oven for the water bath and place the pan holding the bread pudding on top. Immediately fill the outer pan with enough hot water, so it comes up one inch on the sides of the muffin pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the water bath, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for 10-15 additional minutes. Remove the bread-pudding muffins and allow them to sit for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.
Serve Apple-Raisin Bread Pudding Muffins warm or cold with a warm fruit or vanilla sauce.
*To plump dried raisins add 2 tablespoons of water or orange juice and heat in a microwave for 30 seconds; drain orange juice back into pre-measured 1/3 cup orange juice.
