Blackberry Bread Pudding with Mascarpone Crema

Living in NYC, i would pay top dollar at the Farmer's Market for a small container of  blackberries. Living in the country in NC, you can find the most delicious, plump and sweet blackberries in just about any fence line you see.
Water and sun makes them sweet and gives them that beautiful color. When the summer is hot and dry like this summer, the wild blackberries hardly survive. Me and my boys try our best to bring buckets of water to our father in law farm's fence, to keep the berries happy and ready to be harvested in july.

Blackberry Pudding:

3 cups stale (day or two old) italian bread cut into cubes

1 1/2 cups blackberries

2 1/4 cups milk

5 eggs, beaten

1 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed

Mascarpone Crema

1 cup mascarpone cheese

2 cups heavy whipping cream

6 tablespoons sugar

Lightly grease a baking dish, i use a 9x7 pyrex. Place half the bread cubes and half the blackberries in baking dish, then top it with the other half bread and blackberries.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, sugars, cinnamon, coriander. Pour mixture evenly over bread and fruit. Let it rest about 30 minutes, pushing bread down into egg mixture for even moisture every 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bake pudding in a water bath for 55 to 60 minutes, or until center is set and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature with mascarpone crema.

For the Cream:

With an electric mixer, beat mascarpone until fluffy. Add heavy cream and sugar and beat until it holds soft peaks.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Caramel reminds me of my childhood, when at the end of the day in Brasil , we would have ice cream with chopped cashews and caramel sauce on top. Always a great treat!
Today, i try to keep the tradition by always having homemade caramel sauce in the refrigerator for those moments when you realize you will never be young again, but you can bring back those memories with delicious tastes. And if stored in a air tight container, it will last months in your refrigerator.

Ingredients:

1 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

4 tablespoons of butter

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of pink himalayan salt or fleur del sel

In a saucepan mix sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook over moderate heat until the mixture turns into a amber color. It should take between 6-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and always stirring, and being very careful, slowly add the butter, cream and salt. It will bubble up a lot. Let it cool down for a few minutes and transfer to a air tight jar. Cool down completely and store in your refrigerator.

Whenever needed, pop jar without lid in microwave for 30 seconds at a time until softened, or place in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.