La Miascia

Grease a 24 cm loose based cake tin and line the base and sides with non-stick foil or baking paper. 

Preheat the oven to 170˚C.

Rip the bread into walnut sized pieces and place in a large bowl with the milk and cream. Turn to coat in the liquid and leave for 30 minutes, turning occasionally to ensure all the bread is well soaked.

Heat the butter in a large sauté pan then add the sugar, apples, rosemary and the raisins.Cook over a high heat for 5 minutes until the apples have softened a little and the juices are reduced and syrupy, stirring often. Cool for 15 minutes.

Whisk the eggs, flour, cinnamon, salt and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Scrape in the apple mixture with all the pan juices then add the bread with any liquid. Gently fold everything together, trying not to mash the bread too much.

Tip into the cake tin then dot over the grapes and the rosemary sprigs. Drizzle with the butter and sprinkle over the sugar. Push any raisins down into the pudding to prevent them from burning.

Bake for 1 hour, turning the tin for even browning and loosely covering the top with foil after 40 minutes if it’s browning too much. Cool for at least 20 minutes then remove the sides of the tin and slide the cake off the base onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature with softly whipped cream or mascarpone. 

Cook’s tip: You will need a large sourdough loaf as approximately half the weight will be lost when the crust has been removed.

Menu:  Serve this with  Fresh Fig, Mozzarella and Bean Salad with Basil Dressing  to start, followed by  Lamb Braised with Potatoes, Tomatoes and Feta.