8 tb Unsalted butter -; (1 stick)
1/2 Loaf French bread or
-baguette with crust; cut
-into small cubes
1 lb Brown sugar
1 1/2 c Water
1 1/2 ts Ground cinnamon
2 lg Granny Smith apples; peeled,
-cored,
; and chopped
1 c Walnuts; chopped
1/2 lb Cream cheese; chilled and
-chopped
Crema or heavy cream; see *
-Note
* Note: See the Crema recipe which is included in this collection.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9- by 13-inch glass
casserole or lasagna pan. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add
the bread cubes and stir to coat evenly. Spread the cubes on a baking
sheet and bake 15 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp. Remove
the bread and turn the oven temperature up to 400 degrees. Combine
the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from
the heat. Stir in the cinnamon and set aside. In a large mixing bowl,
combine the chopped apples, walnuts, cream cheese and toasted bread
cubes. Drizzle with the reserved sugar syrup and mix to evenly
distribute. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Bake,
uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Then bake an
additional 5 minutes, without stirring, until the top is golden-brown
and crusty and the liquid is almost gone. Serve warm with pitchers of
Crema or heavy cream for adding at the table. This recipe yields 8
servings.
Yields
8 servings