Because we All Need Another Dessert

Yes, I know. We just finished with holidays. Everyone wants to lose weight. So why am I posting dessert recipes?

I suppose everyone likes a good dessert. And if you don't, I am not sure I can understand that. But I am open minded ;-)

Pound Cake Bread Pudding with Coconut Milk

Pound Cake Bread Pudding just mixed up

The thing is, I just posted my first Newsletter a few days ago, and in it I offered a "bonus recipe," meaning it is not featured on my website or blog site. Granted, it is not really my own recipe, but one found all over the internet. Why then, you might ask, did I feature it in my first Newsletter? Well, the fact is that I like pound cakes, but my husband is not really fond of them. To me, they are rich and plenty sweet and great all on their own. For my husband there is not a cake anywhere that is not made better with icing or some other topping. I made that pound cake recipe before posting it in my Newsletter, to make sure it worked out as good as it sounded. And it did work out great. I loved it. As is. My husband ate it with some leftover caramel topping. 

The reason that I posted this recipe is that if you run into this situation where you have a whole big pound cake and not many takers, there are multitudes of options for using it up. 

One of the ideas that I just couldn't pass up is bread pudding. I have written this before, but I absolutely love bread pudding. I am very hard pressed to find one I don't like, and there are all kinds out there. When I lived in Louisiana, where bread pudding is something like the "State Dessert," I ate it every single time I went out to eat. Okay a slight exaggeration, but only slight, mind you. Last night, as we were coming around to about a third of the cake left, it seemed like my husband might just be at the end of his pound cake rope. And I felt I just had to try making the remainder into bread pudding. 

Pound Cake Bread Pudding with Coconut Milk  

Again, you may think, "Isn't the pound cake rich enough, already?" And I would answer, "Yes, it certainly is." Still. I just had to try it out. Today I set about doing just that. I used as a basis my original Bread Pudding recipe (find that one here) to see what I did there. My bread pudding is terribly rich, as I always use heavy cream for the mixture. It can be substituted with milk, or 2%, half & half or any combination. While I probably should use something less heavy with fat, I unapologetically state that I have yet to even try that. But as I was perusing my bread pudding recipe, I thought about substituting the heavy cream with unsweetened coconut milk. The pound cake is dense, so I felt that it would be far more thirsty, given a little time, than bread cubes. I used 2 (13.5-ounce) cans of coconut milk, which equaled more liquid than the original recipe's 3 cups. I used the same amount of eggs and lightened up on the sugar, since the cake is already sweet. Just because, I also added 2 ounces of white chocolate. I figured it was already over-the-top, so what could another 2 ounces do? 

It baked up perfectly. I made the same Bourbon Sauce (found here) I usually make to put on top. I am sure it is great on its own, but I love this sauce. And here is what I did:

Pound Cake Bread Pudding with Coconut Milk

Makes one 13 x 9-inch pan

Pound Cake Bread Pudding with Coconut Milk

1.5 pounds plain pound cake, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
2 (13.5-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk (or regular milk, half & half, cream or any mixture equaling about 27 ounces (about 3¼ cups)
1/4 cup sugar
¼ cup bourbon or rum (or substitute milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 ounces good quality white chocolate, chopped, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray, or grease with butter and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut milk, sugar, bourbon. vanilla, salt and eggs. Whisk briskly to combine. Pour in all the pound cake cubes and mix. Allow the mixture to set for about 10 minutes. Fold in the white chocolate. 

Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake the bread pudding for about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted halfway between the center and edge comes out clean. If the center is a little jiggly  it's okay, as residual heat will set it up just fine. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.