Tropical Bread Pudding with Grilled Bananas and Vanilla Rum Anglaise

Ingredients

• 2 small loaves or 1 large loaf pina colada pound cake or vanilla-flavored pound cake
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, divided
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• 1/2 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
• 4 bananas
• 1/2 orange, juiced
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons good-quality rum
• 1 cup whipped cream
• Toasted flaked coconut, for serving

Directions

Cut cake into toast-size slices; spread 1 side with softened butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Lightly brown the buttered sides in a large skillet while preparing other sides the same way. After cooking both sides, remove toasted cake from skillet and place on a plate with about 1/3 cup melted vanilla ice cream, allowing cake to soak up the melted ice cream from the bottom.

Peel bananas and set aside.

In skillet over medium heat, melt 1 stick butter. Add orange juice and stir in brown sugar. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until mixture completely liquefies. Add bananas to coat, cooking for about 2 minutes. Remove bananas to grill and continue to cook until tender. Remove sauce from heat, add 2 tablespoons rum, and baste bananas with sauce while grilling. When bananas are cooked to your liking, return them to the skillet with the sauce. Slice as desired; diagonally works best.

Stir the remainder of the ice cream into a bowl of whipped cream and add 1 tablespoon rum.

Place a piece of cake on a dessert plate, cover with sliced grilled bananas, top with brown sugar sauce, and ladle vanilla rum sauce around the cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve.