Apple Bread Pudding with Hard Cider Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 large eggs

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup sweet hard cider

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

6 cups stale raisin-cinnamon bread, cubed

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cubed (1 cup)

1 cup dried apples, diced

Hard Cider Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup hard cider

4 large egg yolks

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with butter; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add cream, cider, sugar, melted butter, salt and cinnamon; whisk to combine. Add bread, fresh and dried apples, and stir to combine. Pour into prepared dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until bread is saturated, 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the hard cider sauce: In the top of a double boiler, melt butter over simmering water. Add sugar and whisk for 1 minute. Add cider and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Return pan to double boiler and whisk until sauce is pale and slightly thickened, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Sauce will thicken as it cools. For a thinner consistency, serve sauce lukewarm.

Remove plastic wrap and place bread pudding in oven. Bake until top of pudding is golden brown and center is firm, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let sit on a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes. Cut bread pudding, put on individual serving plates, and drizzle with the Hard Cider Sauce. Serve immediately.