I made half a recipe of this and did not make the caramelized sauce to pour over; instead I poured the bread pudding (made 1/2 of the recipe) in a baking dish, sprinkled about 1/2 cup grated coconut over top, sprinkled 1/4 cup plus little more broken pecan pieces over all, dotted with 1 tablespoon butter and baked 35 minutes. (Pecans were golden and coconut toasted, probably could have baked it 5 minutes longer; or, maybe bake it about 25 minutes, then sprinkle coconut, pecans and butter over top. It turned out very moist and very good...had a custard-like filling.

Coconut Cream Bread Pudding

1 (8 oz) pkg Philadelphia cream cheese
1 1/2 c granulated sugar, divided
4 large eggs
2 1/2 c milk, at room temperature and divided
1 (15 oz) can cream of coconut, divided
8 tbsp butter, melted and divided
1 (8 oz) French bread loaf, cut into 1" cubes
Vegetable cooking spray
1/2 c sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese at low speed with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Add 1 cup sugar and eggs, and beat at medium speed 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Stir in 2 cups milk, 1 cup cream of coconut, and 3 tbsp melted butter. Stir in bread cubes. Let stand 5 minutes. Coat a 13 x 9" baking dish with cooking spray. Pour bread mixture into dish. Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes or until set. Stir together flaked coconut, pecans, and 3 tbsp melted butter. Sprinkle coconut mixture over baked pudding and bake 5-8 minutes or until browned. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream of coconut. Cook remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium-size heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until sugar is caramelized and mixture becomes a light brown syrup. Stir in milk mixture, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes or until sauce is thickened slightly and sugar is dissolved. Stir in remaining 2 tbsp melted butter. Serve with bread pudding. 8-10 Servings.
Betty in MS