Happy New Year is in order –even though it’s the 16th –as this is my very first post of the New Year! I wanted to start of on a sweet note so today I am sharing my secret sweet bread recipe–developed and perfected during the past 10 years! I know you will love it so give it a try and let me know! This recipe was also recently featured in the Propa Eats magazine of the Popular Newspaper the Guardian in Trinidad and Tobago! Pretty cool way to start the New Year!
Trinidad sweet bread is a dense, rustic bread made with fresh coconut, raisins, mixed fruit and spices. It is made in Trinidad especially during the holidays including Christmas and Easter but great for an all year long snack or breakfast. My sweet bread recipe results in a bread that’s addictive and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. A perfect balance of texture and flavors!
In Trinidad, it’s customary to go to neighbors’ and friends’ houses around Christmas for a lime to celebrate the holidays. Along with punch a creme, sorrel, black cake, pastelles, sponge cake, there is always sweet bread, and we can all hope it’s a very good one.
Princess And The Frog Beignets Recipe
I like my sweet bread loaded with the rich taste of fresh coconut, with not too much raisins or mixed fruit, but just enough so that you get a hint of those flavors. If you like an abundance of mixed fruit, you can increase up to a cup, but decrease the sugar because the mixed fruit is very sweet. If you don’t enjoy biting into the small pieces of mixed fruit, you can put it in the food processor to break up the chunks. If you are one of those who dislike the taste of mixed fruit, eliminate it altogether and replace the amount stated in the recipe with raisins.
You may also decrease the sugar if you do not like it too sweet, contrary to it’s name. Whatever changes you make, if you ensure that the dough is the right texture, you will surely achieve sweet bread success.
Divide dough, form into a loaf with your hands (helps to butter your hands) and place in prepared pans. Bake until full cooked and/or a toothpick or skewer comes out clean, about 60 – 90 minutes (or longer depending on your oven).
Chinese Bakery Coconut Buns (椰絲包)
At the end of baking, mix 2 tbs of sugar with water and brush over bread, return to oven for 5-10 minutes or until the desired color is achieved. You can make it light brown or dark brown and crunchy.
Trinidad sweet bread is a dense, rustic bread made with fresh coconut, raisins, mixed fruit and spices. It is made especially during the holidays including Christmas and Easter.
Calories: 234 kcal | Carbohydrates: 38 g | Protein: 4 g | Fat: 8 g | Saturated Fat: 6 g | Cholesterol: 25 mg | Sodium: 78 mg | Potassium: 200 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 19 g | Vitamin A: 165 IU | Vitamin C: 1 mg | Calcium: 71 mg | Iron: 2 mgIf you have time while visiting Oahu, I highly recommend spending an afternoon-into-evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) on the Northeast side of the island. The PCC is divided into eight simulated Polynesian villages where performers demonstrate various arts, crafts, food, culture, and lifestyles of their respective heritages, all while attending classes on BYU-Hawaii.
Gluten Free Artisan Bread
All the students/performers take real pride is sharing their culture with visitors, and us visitors are lucky to be able to experience their cultures without having to travel across the world.
In the Hawaiian village, we visited a full-scale, sea-worthy traditional boat and learnt about ancient methods of wayfinding (just like Moana, as my youngest brother would say).
We visited the Samoa village and enjoyed a lively and comedic presentation before sampling some delicious coconut + taro soup made in an underground oven called an “imu”—a second recipe from our visit I’ll have to try.
Banana Coconut Bread Recipe
We had already learned so much about coconuts during our coconut farm tour on Maui, but at the PCC we saw just how coconut and it’s derivatives are truly a vital source of life for the Polynesians.
For example, in Tahiti coconuts are the most important agricultural resource on the island and is a large part of the economy. In fact coconut plantations occupy 2/3 of the agricultural land in the islands.
We arrived to late to enjoy some of the coconut bread that the students baked, though thankfully they shared the recipe, and now we finally get to try it. Of course an adjustment for gluten-free and the addition of a coconut icing just for fun. :)
Walnut & Banana Bread — Primal Plate
Here’s what we found out: Tahitian Coconut Bread makes a great breakfast, snack, or afternoon tea accompaniment. It’s decently dense, moist and rich with coconut.
For Coconut Bread: 2 cups fresh coconut, grated 2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups water 4 cups gluten-free flour, additional as needed For Coconut Icing (optional): 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk 1 tsp coconut extract Additional toppings (optional): Sliced fresh fruit (like strawberries, nectarines, bananas, blueberries, etc) Jam Vegan butter substituteAnd while the bread is tasty any time of year, it has quickly become one of my favorite recipes for winter simply because it does feel so very tropical.
I live in northwest Montana and fresh coconut can be difficult to find. I do believe the bread would be moister and even more flavorful if one could grated coconut but know that isn’t possible for everyone.
Vegan Bread Recipe (perfect Sandwich Loaf!)
I tested and used dried medium unsweetened coconut flakes in this recipe. I do not generally use the flaked, sweetened coconut because it tends to be too sweet in my opinion.
It seems that the classic recipe for this coconut loaf uses quite a bit of dried fruit. In all my recipe and looking at different recipes, there always seems to be glace cherries and more.
Here’s the thing – those bright red candied cherries are full of ingredients I just simply don’t like and the flavor isn’t great in my opinion so I skipped it in my version. That’s why I’m saying this is inspired by the Caribbean islands- not authentic.
Pani Popo (samoan Coconut Bread Rolls)
I used raisins because I always have those hand. I do think mixed fruit like dates and raisins or more natural dried cherries would be incredible. One could also skip the fruit all together, if desired.
Use coconut milk to up the coconut flavor even more. Low-fat milk will also work if that’s what you have in the fridge.
I used white sugar in this recipe but next time might switch it for brown sugar because that too would be an incredible flavor.
Gluten Free, Vegan Tahitian Coconut Bread — Studioist
Some whole wheat flour could be substituted for the all purpose, but do know it might make the bread a bit on the dry side – not necessarily bad just different.
Because the bread is a bit on the crumbly side because of all that coconut, do use a smaller loaf pan. The mini loaf pans would be ideal here, just check for doneness a bit sooner than called for in the original recipe.
Some chocolate chips in the batter would also be quite lovely thought not at all traditional but I encourage you to make it your own great recipe by tossing in your favorite things.
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