Snack Attack: PB&J Bread Pudding at Canary Square

PB&J Bread Pudding at Canary Square. / Photo provided

Through waves of new trends and evolving palettes, some time-tested favorites stand tall. And few classics are as engrained in our minds (and appetites) as peanut butter and jelly.

The next time you’re putting down a few drinks at Canary Square, you can embrace that combination in an allergy-conscious dessert. For a limited time, the restaurant is serving a PB&J-themed bread pudding, with local Concord grape jam and cashew butter. Chef Tommy Pontolilo had been mulling over the concept of this dish for the past year, and saw an opportunity when local Concord grapes became available.

“I really wanted to create a dessert that could transport you back to when you were five years old,” Pontolilo says.

Each pudding cake has a layer of concord grape gelatin in the middle to help keep it upright, and cashew crumble sprinkled on top for texture. The finished dessert is soft, decadent, and rich from the cashew butter.

The dish isn’t peanut-based, but Pontolilo prefers it that way. Cashew butter is a bit lower in protein than normal peanut butter, and also contains more nutrients and less sugar. Plus, it makes the dessert edible to everyone.

“With peanut allergies being very dangerous, I try and keep peanuts out of the restaurant all together,” Pontolilo says. “It’s just one way we can keep everybody safe.”

The bread pudding will remain on the menu for another month, so stop in and taste the nostalgia for yourself.

$6, Canary Square, 435 S Huntington Ave., Jamaica Plain, 617-524-2500, canarysquare.com.