Bourbon Apple Pie Bread Pudding

When my husband hands me a magazine peppered with dog-eared recipes, I take notice. Recently he handed me and issue of The Bourbon Review with every other page folded over full of things he’d like me to make him.

This one comes from Louisville chef Anthony Lamas. Because apples and fall go together like white bread and barbecue, I couldn’t resist this boozy dessert as the first recipe I tried in his pile.

Bourbon Apple Pie Bread Pudding
3 green apples peeled, cored, and sliced
2 cups of heavy cream (I used half and half)
6 eggs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 oz. bourbon
¼ cup butter
½ loaf of crusty bread

Mix cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar. Sauté apples in butter along with mixed seasonings, then deglaze with bourbon. After the apples are sautéed, let them cool to a nice medium temperature. Then, add the heavy cream and eggs. Whisk until it is thickened. Cut the bread in chunks to your liking for a pudding and add the bread to the mixture. Now that you have your pudding set, butter 6-8 ramekins. Fill the ramekins with the pudding. Cook at 375° for 10 minutes. (I used one medium-sized casserole because I like my bread pudding a bit more free-form. I cooked for about 55 minutes.)