Almond Salted Caramel Bread Pudding

By BearForce

Ingredients

• Almond Butter:
• 1 cup whole blanched almonds
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• Caramel Sauce:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• Pudding:
• 1 1/4 cups half and half
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• Unsalted butter (for coating cake pan)
• 3 Tbsp. sliced almonds
• 2 Tbsp. raw sugar
• Powdered sugar
• Creme fraiche

Preparation

Step 1

Almond Butter:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread out almonds and toast. Transfer cooled almonds to a food processor. Add butter, almond extract and salt. Process until mixture is the texture of coarsey ground peanut butter. Set aside.

Caramel Sauce:
Whisk sugar, cream of tartar and 3 Tbsp. of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook without stirring until mixture begins to caramelize in spots. Stir. Cook until the color of honey, 10-12 minutes. Reduce to low and contine to cook, about five more minutes. Remove and carefully whisk in butter, then cream and salt. Let cool slightly and pour into a small bowl. Can be made ahead.

Pudding:
Combine half and half and cream in a medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; remove.

Whisk in egg yolks, eggs, sugar and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into egg mixture. Cover custard with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain custard into a large bowl; discard vanilla bean.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter cake pan; set aside. Using biscuit cutter, cut out circles from each slice of bread, reserving scraps. Arrange bread scraps in pan in an even layer and press lightly.

Spread each bread round with almond butter. Place all but 1 round almond butter side down in pan, overlapping slightly to create a shingled circle. Place the last round in the center. Pour custard evenly over bread. Sprinkle with almonds and raw sugar. Place cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up the sides. Cover roasting pan with foil, tenting slightly in center to avoid touching bread.

Bake pudding until top no longer jiggles, about 25-30 minutes. Remove foil from pan and increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake pudding until custard is set in the center and top is golden brown and crisp, about 25 minutes longer. Remove cake pan from roasting pan. Let cool slightly. Dust pudding with powdered sugar. Slice into wedges. Place on plates and drizzle caramel sauce over and top with a dollop of creme fraiche.