French Toast Bread Pudding

This is probably one of the easiest, most delicious, low-maintenance holiday breakfast foods ever invented. That should be reason enough to try it! You can experiment with different types of bread (I've used really fancy challah bread from an organic bakery, and I've also used a three day old Wal-Mart bakery loaf). All will yield delectable results.

Ingredients:

-1 large loaf of bread (some say it should be stale, frankly, I don't think it matters whether it's stale or not)
-1 cup finely diced apple (a sweet one like Gala or Golden Delicious)
-1/2 cup golden raisins
-3 eggs
-3 cups of milk
-2 cups of cream or half and half
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon


For the top:
-1/3 cup sliced almonds
-3 tbsp. butter, diced
-1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Break up your bread into 1-2 inch pieces. If you are a very precise sort of person, you can cut it in cubes with a bread knife. Place in a large bowl with apple and raisins.

2. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar, milk, cream, and cinnamon.

3. Pour egg mixture over bread mixture and stir to coat all of the bread.

4. Butter a 9x13 baking pan, and pour in your bread pudding mixture. Sprinkle the almonds, butter, and brown sugar over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight (or at least 6 hours) to let it really absorb all of the milk.

5. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes, until the top begins to turn golden and the butter is all absorbed.

6. Serve with syrup, honey, jam, or just eat it on its own!