With nearly everything on the menu at Bull City Ciderworks made in house, finding impressionable flavor is guaranteed, particularly when it comes to the ciders and how they’re incorporated into dishes.
Harry Monds, chef at the ciderhouse in Lexington, North Carolina, says he used to not enjoy cider, often thinking it was way too sweet. That all changed after trying the many different varieties that Bull City had to offer. Now, Monds says about 30 percent of the menu has cider incorporated in it, with plans to move to upwards of 75 percent of the menu infused with cider in some way.
Paying attention to the fact that cider is a gluten-free ingredient, Monds features a dessert that could be enjoyable by all, substituting with a gluten-free bread in the Bull City “Steep South” apple bread pudding.
“A lot of people, when they see that or hear that, they think automatically that somethings not quite up to par with a normal, regular bread pudding,” Monds says, promising all of the flavor a sweet tooth would require. “You would not know this is gluten-free if someone didn’t tell you.”
The cider chosen to be incorporated in the dish is the Steep South, a cider is cold-steeped for hours with black tea and honey. The refreshing sip contains naturally occurring caffeine from the tea leaves making this dessert stand out in more ways than one.
Bull City “Steep South” Apple Bread Pudding
Yields 8 servings
3 eggs
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup Bull City Ciderworks “Steep South” Cider
6 slices of gluten-free bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
3 Pink Lady apples, peeled and diced
1 ½ cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Mix eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and cider until thoroughly combined. Add bread to bowl and coat evenly with egg mixture, set aside and allow to soak. Meanwhile, mix apples, sugar and cornstarch together, tossing apples until thoroughly coated.
Pour gluten-free bread mix into bottom of a 9-inch pie pan, spreading out evenly. Pour apple mix on top of bread mix, spreading out evenly. Place pan in oven and cook for 40 minutes.
Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, drizzled with caramel sauce. Store in refrigerator.
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