Thursday, June 11, 2009

Coconut Bread

I love a good sweet bread for breakfast, and this one takes the cake. I don't even know what to say...it speaks for itself and tastes just as good as it sounds. The toasted coconut and the coconut milk make this more like a dense cake, so I feel like I'm getting away with something when I get to eat it for breakfast. I like to eat a big slice plain or lightly toasted with a little bit of butter. This comes from Tyler Florence's "Real Kitchen" cookbook.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBL baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1-1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1-1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted

To toast the coconut, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring at least twice. It will get golden brown. Set aside.

Adjust oven temperature to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan (I use cooking spray with flour). In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Pour in the coconut milk and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together until you have a smooth batter. Gently fold in the shredded coconut until evenly distributed. Pour into prepared loaf pan and set it on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean. Rotate pan occasionally to ensure even browning. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove to rack or cutting board to cool completely.

3 comments:

Sarah Bockel Smith said...

Wow, the bread really rises! Must be due to the amount of baking powder.

I wonderfully delicious and dense breakfast bread. Not too sweet -- will be perfect with coffee, I'm sure.

In Atlanta, I had to bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours @ 375. Next time I might try increasing the temp to 400 and decreasing the time.

Ventura Food Happenings said...

I know, I think that's one of the things I love about it...it's a really big and tall loaf, making for really hearty slices. Glad you liked it!

Unknown said...

I can't wait to try it. Love the blog!