Coconut Taro Bread Pudding by Kaulana Dameg

So happy to have my first guest blogger! Kaulana has been a student (KS Middle School boarder), colleague (Hawaiian language/Hale Kuamo'o) and friend for many years. She is also a fellow foodie and baker extraordinaire! She and I drool over each other's food pics on Facebook, mostly on desserts. Oh, do we love to bake and eat. Kaulana's latest concoction, made special for her husband on Father's Day, is a wonderful coconut taro bread pudding, Hilo style. 

Here she is. Isn't she beautiful? Always has been. Inside and out. Here is her post:

Low's International Foods is a restaurant in Hilo that's popular for its many different flavored breads. 

There's taro (most popular), cinnamon, rainbow, ʻulu, coconut, pumpkin, guava, mango, lilikoʻi, banana, and just plain 'ole sweet. Low's breads are always pillowy soft and have a great mild flavor, not too sweet. 

For Father's day, I decided to make bread pudding using their taro and coconut bread. The coconut bread had little bits of coconut baked into it, so instead of mixing additional coconut into the dessert, I just sprinkled some on top. Btw, because you sprinkle the coconut on the dessert midway through baking, it comes out perfectly toasted and makes the whole house smell heavenly. This recipe is based on a coconut bread pudding recipe I found on my favorite recipe website: Allrecipes.com. 

The verdict: Delicioso! My husband thought it was perfect the way it was, I would have liked to have an accompanying sauce, like creme anglaise or even fresh whipped cream. We paired it with Roselani's haupia ice cream, that was also a good match. I bet this recipe would work with many different flavors of bread, it would be fun to experiment with all the different colors too. Enjoy!

Here's the dessert plated:

Here's the recipe:

Taro Coconut Bread Pudding

butter for greasing the pan

confectioner's sugar for dusting the pan

1 cup white sugar

4 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk, beaten well

1 (14oz.) can coconut milk

1 (14oz.) can regular milk (I used skim)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. + 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

1 1/2 c. flaked coconut (if using coconut bread from Low's, you'll only need 1/2 c.)

1/2 lb. taro bread, cubed

1/2 lb. coconut bread, cubed

1. Grease a 9x13 inch pyrex baking dish with butter and dust with confectioner's sugar.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs well, then add all ingredients except flaked coconut and bread cubes. Mix until smooth. 

3. Stir in 1 cup of flaked coconut. 

4. Fold in bread cubes until evenly coated.

5. Pour into prepared baking dish and set aside while preheating oven.

6. Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).

7. When oven is ready, put dish in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 30 minutes. 

8. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/2 c. flaked coconut then return to oven and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until center springs back when lightly tapped.

9. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before eating.