Back in December, I made a batch of Marroni Al Liquore and I was so excited to try it. I waited a couple weeks to really let the flavours mellow and give the chestnuts a chance to soften and eagerly tucked into my winter treat.
Maybe it’s me, but it really didn’t float my boat. The brandy liquor was delicious, as the vanilla beans, cloves and cinnamon had made for a delicious drink, but the chestnuts were mealy and too boozy for my liking. So my poor jars sat in the fridge, getting pushed to the back as new preserve jars made their way to the front of the line. So today I had an idea, a way to repurpose those chestnuts into something useful, delicious and still decadent.
I present you with:
Chestnut and Apple Bread Pudding with Brandied Honey Caramel Sauce
Chestnut and Apple Bread Pudding with a Brandied Honey Caramel Sauce
Bread Pudding:
1/2 lb loaf of day-old bread, cubed
1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and diced
4 eggs
1 cup of pureed sweetened chestnuts*
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp maple syrup**
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Brandied Honey Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp Marroni Al Liquore brandy
Steps:
1. Beat eggs and combine the rest of the ingredients. Combine apple and cubed bread and place in greased and wide casserole dish. Pour egg/milk/chestnut mixture over top, stir to combine and let sit for 1 hour at room temperature until bread has soaked up the egg mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until tester comes out clean.
2. While pudding is baking, make your caramel sauce. Combine milk and honey and bring to a boil on medium heat, swooshing your pan frequently. When colour begins to turn golden remove from heat, about 8-10 minutes. Don’t be tempted to reduce as it will thicken once its cooled. Let cool for 5 minutes or so before adding brandy. Warm sauce before serving on pudding.
* To make chestnut puree, combine jar of chestnuts with roughly 1-2 tbsp of brandy and grind in a small food processor until smooth. Add more brandy liquid if necessary.
** This is a 100 Mile Challenge friendly recipe, so feel free to substitute 1/4 cup brown sugar if you prefer a sweeter bread pudding. The recipe as printed is on the less sweet side, which suits our preference.
uncanny preserves -- thinking outside the jar 
It looks great! I wonder if this is how we could use up some of our chestnut spread (also not a favorite)?
It’s worth a shot, you could always thin the puree with whatever liquor you have on hand. I really liked the bread pudding like this and it was a great way to use up the expensive Marroni Al Liquore. I *so* wanted to like it, too. I feel bad…I gave some away as gifts before sampling it. 😦
Just be sure to really grease your pan. I forgot and it’s on like glue. Also, mine’s on the less sweet side, which is perfect if you’re adding a sauce, but if not adding sauce, you might want it a touch sweeter.
Totally an adaptable recipe.
Confession: the chestnuts didn’t float my boat either. The liqueur, I LOVED. The chestnuts, meh.
This looks yummy, and very creative in using up something that was less than stellar. I have likewise been figuring out uses for my peach pit jelly that tastes basically like sugar jelly 😉 I recently tried making some coffee liqueur and am excited to give it a taste soon and see how it turned out. I feel like a little chemist in the kitchen sometimes.
I’ve made the mistake of trying to reboil liquidy jam or jelly and ending up with rock-hard jam that’s cloyingly sweet (duh….you think I’d know better; just keep it at syrup!) and I use it in my oatmeal. When I’m boiling the water, I add in a tablespoon or so and jam dissolves beautifully and flavours up the oatmeal. Also, I dilute it with a bit of juice and bring it to a boil and once it’s back to a runny texture, I’ll spoon it over quick breads like a zucchini or banana bread.
Your coffee liqeuer sounds AMAZING. Thanks for posting the recipe; I might have to make that. I have lots of coffee and liquor loving friends out there that would love a jar of it (not to mention me. Hey, someone’s got to sample it, right?!). Thanks for stopping by. 🙂