It's that time again, this month's Home Cook Battle where a group of my super talented international chef friends comes together to battle it out.  Each month the group chooses one ingredient to whip up something extravagant. This month's ingredient is SALTED CARAMEL!!!  I encourage you to head over to Instagram and check out #homecookbattle to see what everyone else made.  Your taste buds will be tantalized, and you'll get some crazy good recipes just in time for the holidays!!  

My thoughts going into the competition, "So what goes with salted caramel?"  Well, practically any baked good.  "But how can I make it creative?  After all, it is a battle!"  How about starting with a pretzel crust made from crushed pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter.  Then whip up a creamy sweet bread pudding and pour it into the crust.  Next, crush it by making a salted caramel sauce from scratch. 

Did I burn the first round?  Yup!  Full disclosure and proof that everyone's human.  Did that stop me?  Nope.  The second round came out perfect, and I was even more proud of my effort.  To finish it off, slice up some fresh honey crisp apples to enjoy dipping in the salted caramel sauce.  

Bread pudding isn't something you eat every day, which makes it an extra special treat.  Next time you're thinking about making it, give this a shot.  If making the salted caramel from scratch has you leery, you can buy it already prepared.  Smuckers sells it in a jar.  Or melt caramel baking squares and add some salt.  Kraft sells them.  

Recipe for Salted Caramel Bread Pudding with Apples and a Pretzel Crust

Ingredients:

Pretzel crust:

• 1 ½ cups pretzels, crushed

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

Bread pudding:

• 2 cups milk

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ⅓ cup sugar

• Coarse kosher salt, to season

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 10 slices of bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, I like anything sweet like brioche or challah but you can use French as well

• 1 of your favorite apples, sliced, I like honey crisp

• Vanilla ice cream, optional

Salted Caramel:

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• ¼ cup water

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• ½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature

• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Pretzel Crust:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9X9 baking dish.  In a medium bowl, mix the pretzels and brown sugar until well combined.  Pour in the butter and mix until well coated.  Pour the mixture into the baking dish and firmly press the crumb mixture on the bottom and slightly up the sides.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Bread Pudding:  In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, add the milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat.  Add the eggs and whisk to combine.  Layer the bread over the pretzel crust, then carefully pour the milk mixture over the bread making sure to coat all the bread pieces.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until the custard is set and the bread edges have browned. 

Salted Caramel:  During the last 15 minutes your bread pudding is cooking, make the salted caramel sauce.  In a 3-quart saucepan, add the sugar and water and heat over medium heat.  Gently whisk until combined, and then do not whisk again.  The mixture will bubble.  As it does, from this point on, you simply want to swirl the saucepan every 30-60 seconds until the sugar has melted and it turns a light amber color, about 8-12 minutes.  During this time, do not leave your stove and make sure you’re swirling the pot enough so that it doesn’t burn.  As it cooks, it will change from a clear liquid, then have a yellow-ish hue, and at the end, it will rapidly change to light amber.  As soon as you see it start changing to light amber, immediately remove saucepan from heat.  Whisk in the butter until it melts.  Slowly pour in the heavy cream and salt and whisk until well combined and smooth.  

Plate and serve:  When the bread pudding is done, cut a piece, and put it on a plate.  If using ice cream, add a scoop on top now.  Generously drizzle the salted caramel sauce over top.  Add another pinch of salt.  Serve warm with sliced apples on the side to dip in the caramel sauce.    

NOTE:  To easily crush pretzels, put them in a Ziplock, and lightly pound them with a meat mallet or something heavy.  NOTE:  To make an even pretzel crust, you can use the bottom of a measuring cup to press them flat.