My best friend and I are going to meet in New York City tomorrow. Last time, I went to visit her in San Francisco she took me to Alice Waters' Tartine Bakery. I recently discovered that the publishing company I work for publishes Tartine, the cookbook from the bakery. I picked up a copy for my friend for when I see her tomorrow. Here's a picture I took of the highest quality bread pudding I have ever come by.

From Christmas and New Years 2009

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hours, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup dried apricots, sliced, or 8 fresh apricots, cut in small wedges
1-1/4 cups sugar
.
Pudding:
7 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
2 cups cream
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
4 ounces good-quality almond paste, cut in pea-size pieces, optional
About 1 pound brioche, pain-de-mie or good day-old homemade white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
Preparation:

In a small saucepan, simmer the apricots in 1 cup water and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Poach the fruit until tender, about 12 minutes for dried, 5 for fresh. Drain the fruit, saving the liquid, and set the fruit aside to cool. Return the poaching liquid to the saucepan and add the remaining 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Boil this mixture, and when it begins to brown, swirl the pan so that it caramelizes evenly. Cook to a medium amber color. Very carefully pour the hot caramel into a 2-quart gratin dish or divide it evenly among 6 small ramekins. Cool.

Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl. Slowly add 1/3 cup sugar and mix well. Whisk in the half-and-half or milk and the cream. Add the orange zest, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, nutmeg, and kirsch. Gently fold in the poached apricots; the almond paste, if using; and the bread cubes. Transfer the pudding mixture to the gratin dish or ramekins. Let rest at least 1 hour or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top of the pudding. Place the gratin dish or ramekins on a baking sheet to catch any overflow. Bake until nicely browned, about 55 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Variation: Substitute prunes for the apricots and Armagnac for the kirsch.

Yield: 8 servings

Per serving: 729 cal.; 11 g pro.; 86 g carb.; 34 g fat (20 sat.; 12 monounsat.; 2 polyunsat.); 298 mg chol.; 439 mg sod.; 1 g fiber; 45 percent calories from fat.