INGREDIENTS:
- 1 Challah loaf (about 16 oz), sliced into 1” cubes
- 9 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ¾ cup maple syrup or honey
- Zest and juice from 1 orange
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 TBS vanilla extract
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup Applejack Whiskey (bourbon or rum is also nice)
- 2 cups pecans, toasted
- 6-8 Cosmic Crisp Apples, peeled, cored and sliced into ¼” wedges
- Juice from 1 lemon
- ½ cup finishing sugar, Lars Own Swedish Pearl Sugar is nice
PREPARATION:
- Preheat oven to 350* and butter a 9”x 12” casserole dish.
- Place the peeled, cored and sliced apple wedges in a large bowl with cold water and juice from 1 lemon. Set aside.
- In a small pot bring whisky and juice from 1 orange to a simmer, then remove from the heat and add the dried cranberries. Let them soak for 20-30 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, syrup, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and kosher salt.
- Gently fold the challah cubes into the egg mixture. Add the cranberries and whiskey liquid to the mixture.
- Remove the apples from the lemon water and add to the challah mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the buttered baker and top with pecans and finishing sugar.
- Loosely cover with foil and bake for 90 minutes, removing the foil halfway through.
- Serve with syrup, caramel or whipped cream.
