Warm Mexican Bread Pudding With Apples And Cream (Capirotada) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 loaf French bread or 1/2 loaf baguette, with crust, cut into small cubes
1 lb brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 lb cream cheese, chilled and chopped
crema or heavy cream, for serving

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass casserole.
Melt butter in a saucepan, add bread cubes and stir to coat evenly. Spread cubes on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes, or until lightly brown and crisp.
Remove bread and turn oven temperature up to 400 degrees.
Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in the cinnamon and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, walnuts, cream cheese and bread cubes. Drizzle with reserved sugar syrup and mix to evenly distribute. Transfer to prepared pan.
Bake, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Bake an additional 5 minutes, without stirring, until th top is golden brown and crusty and liquid is almost gone.
Serve warm with pitchers of crema or cream for adding at the table.