Palace Bread
Pastry Chef Maureen Kilpatrick of Oleana - Cambridge, MA
Adapted by StarChefs

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings

• 1 round loaf of country bread, crusts trimmed off
  (or a good French baguette, do not use sourdough)
• 3 ¾ cups sugar
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 1 cup honey
• 1 Tablespoon rose water
• ¼ cup pistachios
• 1 cup mascarpone

In a saucepan, simmer water and sugar to a thick syrup, about 8 minutes, let it cook to a light caramel or the color of a good amber honey (another 8 minutes or so). Add honey, rosewater, and lemon. While still hot, pour into a sauté pan and bring back up to a boil. Add bread and push down with the back of a ladle to submerge. Keep this on a low heat (the caramel will boil over and make a mess!) Slowly simmer for about 30-40 minutes, adding water and pushing and ladeling over syrup from time to time. You will probably need to add as much as 2-3 cups of water, during the process. The bread will become candied after 30-40 minutes. You want it to have a translucent amber color. Allow the bread to cool slightly in the pan to absorb most of the remaining syrup and turn out onto a plate. Cut into triangles or squares and serve with a generous amount of mascarpone and sprinkling of pistachios. You want to eat the pudding with a little mascarpone on each bite.