3cupsunsweetened oat milk or soy milk(vanilla is nice here if you have it)
⅓cuppure maple syrup
2Tbspcornstarch
4tspvanilla extract
2tspcardamom
¼tspsalt
1apple or firm pearpeeled, cored and diced
1cuppecan or walnut pieces
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 °F (180°C) and place a sheet of aluminum foil on the oven rack to catch any drips as the bread pudding cooks.
Grease a 8-inch round baking dish and cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom.
Cut each slice of bread into 1-inch (2.5cm) cubes. Layer half the bread, half the pear, half the walnuts into the baking dish, repeating with remaining ingredients. Set aside.
Whisk together oat milk, cornstarch, vanilla, cardamom salt and maple syrup in a small pan until smooth. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Let boil gently for ten minutes, whisking frequently, to thicken and infuse milk.
If you need to, lower the heat so it doesn’t bubble over or scald. The custard will coat the back of a spoon nicely when you’re done.
Evenly pour the custard over the bread and gently press bread into the custard so every piece gets soaked.
Sprinkle a bit more cardamom on top, then carefully place in oven (it will be hot!). Bake for 45 – 50 minutes until bread tops are golden and the custard is thick and bubbling at the edges.
Let cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy warm or room temperature with a little scoop of cashew ice cream if you like!
Variations:
Ginger: add 1/3 cup diced crystallized ginger, swap 1 tsp cinnamon for the cardamom, and chopped macadamia nuts for pecans
Cinnamon Bun: swap cinnamon for cardamom, add ¼ cup raisins
Dark Chocolate: Whisk ½ cup of dark chocolate chips into custard in last two minutes of cooking.