Apple, Cheddar — Bacon Bread Pudding — When You Finally Write the Recipe Down

The church cookbook committee has been after me for two years to write down my cornbread dressing recipe for the New Hope AME Centennial Cookbook, and this week I finally sat down and did it. It took three evenings.

The problem with writing down recipes you have made for thirty years without measuring anything is that you have to reverse-engineer your own process. I made the dressing while I wrote it, stopping to measure things I have never measured in my life. Two cups of this. Three tablespoons of that. I kept adjusting because the first time I went through it the proportions were wrong — I measured after the fact and found I had been using significantly more sage than any recipe would call for, which means my dressing is a sage-forward dressing and that is apparently my identity, something I did not know about myself until I tried to write it down.

The recipe filled two pages. The committee wants one. I am going to have to make some decisions about what is essential and what is instruction and what is the kind of information that only matters if you already mostly know what you're doing, which is most of what I wrote.

I called Destiny to complain about this and she said, Mama, this is exactly the process I go through with my clients who don't know they have implicit knowledge — they can do the thing but they can't explain it because it lives in the body, not the language. I said, that's a therapy observation applied to cornbread dressing. She said yes. I said all right, I suppose it is. She talked me through breaking the recipe into steps in a way that could be followed by someone who had never made it before, which is a different recipe from the one I've been making in my head. I finished it that evening. Three pages. The committee is going to have to accept three pages.

After three evenings of measuring things I had never measured in my life, I wanted to make something that felt like the kind of cooking I understand — savory, substantial, bread-forward, the sort of dish that holds its shape on a plate and tastes like it came from somewhere. This Apple, Cheddar — Bacon Bread Pudding is exactly that kind of recipe: the bread absorbs everything around it, the flavors settle into each other, and the result is the sort of thing you don’t have to explain because the pan comes back empty. I made it the night I finished the cookbook entry, and it felt like the right reward.

Apple, Cheddar & Bacon Bread Pudding

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 8 cups day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (French or sourdough works well)
• 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced
• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, for greasing and dotting
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish generously and set aside.
2. Layer the bread. Spread the bread cubes evenly in the prepared baking dish. Scatter the diced apples, crumbled bacon, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar over the bread, distributing evenly.
3. Make the custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, dried sage, salt, and pepper until fully combined and smooth.
4. Soak the bread. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the bread and fillings. Press down gently with a spatula to help the bread absorb the liquid. Let sit for 10 minutes so the bread soaks through.
5. Top and bake. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar over the top and dot with small pieces of butter. Bake uncovered for 40–45 minutes, until the custard is set in the center, the top is golden, and the edges are slightly crisp.
6. Rest and serve. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 16g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 620mg