3 cups milk (I was short and substituted 1/3 of the milk with half and half.)
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
4T unsalted butter, plus butter for the pan
9 or more slices of dryish bread with very edge of crust removed
3 eggs
2 cups peeled, cored and chunked apples
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir the milk, sugar, salt and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and warm just until the butter melts.

Choose any two nesting baking dishes. Butter the smaller of the two. This is a good time to test the required water level for the larger pan. ; )

Cut the bread into chunks (1 in. x 1 in. x bread thickness). (I dried mine out a bit by broiling, tossing, broiling and cooling. It would probably also work to leave it out overnight.) Put the bread in buttered baking dish and pour the hot milk mixture over it. (I might have used more than the recommended amount of bread.)

Beat the eggs, wisk in the cardamom, stir in the apple chunks and then fold it all into the bread mixture. Set the baking dish in a larger baking pan and pour enough hot water into the baking pan to come up about an inch from the top of the dish.

Bake for 45–60 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. (I used a glass cover for the first 30 minutes and took it off for the last 30 minutes.)

If desired, broil for about 30 seconds to brown the top. Serve hot or cold. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To reheat, cover with lid or foil and heat in a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes. Remove lid or foil and heat for another 5 minutes for a crisper crust.

This recipe is from “H o w t o C o o k E v e r y t h i n g V e g e t a r i a n” b y M a r k B i t t m a n

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