In preparation for The Prince to come home for spring break I made Hummingbird Bread Pudding with a runny Cream Cheese Pecan Sauce. People, it was crazy good! I wish I could take credit for the recipe but that would be outright theft. I’ve had Hummingbird cake a million times but I’m not a big cake baker. Then I saw it as a bread pudding as I was flipping through my “go to” channels on television. Hummingbird Bread Pudding? Brilliant. It’s easy, fast and oh, so satisfying. And just a computer search away. From the Cooking Channel, its proper name is “Donna Bell’s Bakeshop’s Hummingbird Bread Pudding”. I tweaked it just a little; for instance I used 2% milk instead of whole and I doubled the Cream Cheese Pecan Sauce and also made it a bit thinner…I like to drizzle my sauce rather than drop dollops. An old, old recipe with a brand new twist…and CREAM CHEESE! Making the first two of my spring break crew happy, happy boys.
Donna Bell's Bakeshop's Hummingbird Bread Pudding
Bread Pudding
- non-stick cooking spray
- 3 cups whole or 2% milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 bananas, 1 mashed, 1 cut into small pieces
- 1 1/4 pounds crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup pecans
- 1/2 loaf French bread, (I used Brioche), cubed in small pieces
Cream Cheese Pecan Sauce
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons milk, plus extra if needed to thin
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup toasted, finely chopped pecans to sprinkle on top
- I double the Cream Cheese Sauce.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°.
- Grease a 9X13 pan or casserole pan of your choice with the cooking spray.
- Whisk together the milk, vanilla and eggs then add the sugar and cinnamon.
- Mix in the mashed banana.
- Fold in the banana pieces, pineapple, coconut and pecans.
- Gently mix in the bread and let sit for 15 minutes to soak up the custard fruit mixture.
- Stir once again, pour mixture into casserole dish and bake for about 45 minutes.
- For the Cream Cheese Sauce mix the cream cheese with the spoon then slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Mix in the milk and vanilla adding milk in very small amounts until it is as thin as you like.
- Let the bread pudding cool slightly then drizzle the sauce over the warm cake. I like to drizzle the sauce over the individual pieces but that’s just me.
- Top with the toasted pecans. Again, I do individual pieces. It’s the rebel in me.
The Irreverent Kitchen 
3 cups milk & 4 TBSP vanilla? Are they whisked with the eggs?
Thank you for catching that, Wanda. Lord knows what I was thinking when I typed THAT in! The post has been corrected and updated.