Terra Americana

I love bread and everything you can do with it.  Fresh, right out of the oven, toasted for soups and sandwiches, mixed in an egg batter fried and topped with syrup for breakfast.  Even when it gets stale it still has a lot of life left.  Bread pudding is a wonderful way to make the most of those left overs.  This one is a grand ode to the fabulous flavors of fall...
 

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups Almond Flour or all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 tbsp Russian Mulling Spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance (soy butter), softened
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup half-and-half cream or Soy Cream
  
• 1 tbsp Cranberry Orange Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Orange Vanilla Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 (1 pound) loaves sliced artisan bread, cut into 3/4 inch strips with crusts removed
• 4 pears - peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/3 cup Craisins/Dried Cranberries
  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, Russian Mulling Spice and salt. Mix in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, white sugar, cream, Orange Vanilla Sugar, Cranberry Orange Vinegar and salt. Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with a layer of bread. Top with a layer of pear and dried cranberries. Pour about 1/4 of the custard over the layers followed by about 1/3 of the heavy cream. Sprinkle with some of the crumb topping. Repeat layers until you are out of ingredients, ending with the crumb topping on top. Press down on the layers as needed to help them absorb the liquid. Cover the pan with parchment paper then seal with aluminum foil. Place another baking pan on top or two dinner plates to keep it from puffing while it bakes. Place the pudding onto a larger pan or cookie sheet with sides. Pour boiling water into the bottom pan until it is half way full. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking for 25 minutes. Pudding is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

More desert ideas with the fresh flavors of fruit:

• Sable breton galette with berries

• Long and slow apples

• Blueberry Orange Coffee Cake

• Strawberry tartine

Photo Credit:  Julie Cecchini