Apple Upside Down Bread Pudding

Just in time to kick off the fall season ... crisp apples, brown sugar and warm spices come together in this easy-to-assemble dessert. Bread pudding is one of the simplest desserts to make. This is essentially a bread pudding, but has similarities to an upside-down cake. Serving it warm, room temperature or cold is up to you. But, topping it with a dusting of powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream is totally recommended.

The recipe begins with some melted butter and brown sugar marrying in the bottom of a cake pan. A sprinkling of sliced almonds is nestled around the slices of apple - just for some added crunch. Day-old bread chunks are mixed up with a vanilla custard that has been kissed with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. The custard-y bread is pressed into the buttery brown sugar and apple layer. Baked gently to keep everything moist and gooey, this dessert - once set a bit - is turned out onto a pretty cake platter for presentation and service to guests.

In regards to the bread, I've found that the sky is almost the limit when it comes to making bread pudding. I've used dinner rolls, sliced bread, buns and even leftover donuts. Sometimes I have even used a combination of different types of bread that I had on hand. I prefer to use day-old bread that is a little on the stale side, but I do recommend to, at least, allow the bread chunks to sit out on the counter to dry out a little before making this recipe if you're using very fresh bread.

Dried Cherry and Sliced Almond Scones

 

I have a slight obsession with scones. (Flip flops, iced tea, Tim McGraw, Law & Order: SVU, amaretto sour cocktails, Adam Levine and Mexican food may, also, fall into the obsession category in my world, but we'll leave those topics alone for the time being.)

I always order scones in any little coffee shop or bakery that offers them.  And, I regularly swear that I'll double the recipe next time I make scones at home, but I always forget ... then, live to regret it.  Why?  Because most scone recipes only yield about eight servings.  That's never enough.  Ever.

These scones are tender, buttery and flaky with just the right amount of sweetness.  So many people think that scones are difficult to make at home.  I promise you that they are not.  The most important factor to making scones is keeping the butter as cold as you possibly can throughout the whole preparation.  Scones come together and are in the oven in a matter of like, ten or fifteen minutes, so they are not time-consuming to make at all.

 

For these scones, I took my blueberry scones recipe and tweaked it a bit.  And, even though the name of the recipe says cherries, I actually used a combination of dried cherries and dried cranberries today because I love the combination of the two. And, I added in sliced almonds, but you could omit if you're not into nuts.  Chocolate chips would be a good substitute or addition - yum!

Yields 8 scones.