My version of Caribbean Coconut Bake (Coconut Bread)

I’ve had a slice or two of Coconut Bake in my life and I’ve found everyone makes it a bit different. Some are dry, poofy and yeasty, some are dense and flat, some are flat and spongy. It all depends on personal style, family recipe or where you happen to purchase it from. 

Throughout the Caribbean a version of coconut bread is known by a few names, pot bake, roast bake, coconut johnny cakes and it’s eaten everywhere from Belize to the Bahamas. The ones I’m most familiar with hail from Trinidad and is a popular breakfast item there.  Served simply with butter and or cheddar cheese with a hot cup of tea or coffee or with more savoury items like a salted cod salad, eggs, local breakfast items, and stews. Sandwich it, or serve it on the side it’s a true favourite on the islands. 

If you’ve never eaten this before I can best describe it as a dense bread with a slightly crusty exterior. The inside is flecked throughout with fresh coconut bits and is moist, soft but with a good enough crumb that makes it sturdy for sandwiching, or soaking up delicious gravies. On my last visit to Trinidad, I had a slice from a local bakery, shared it on social media and I was flooded with requests for a recipe.

Now I have to admit, I’d never made this bread prior, shame on me because it’s too delicious not to, and too easy not to try… but at this point I knew I had to give it a shot.  

And, I definitely wanted to make this using fresh coconut. So, that’s exactly what I set out to do.

And as if by chance (or marvelous luck!) at my local grocer’s, in the refrigerated fruit section, I spotted something quite unusual.

Something that I’d never really seen sold in a grocery chain.  And that something…. gorgeous chunks of fresh coconut meat, pre-shelled and ready for my Coconut Bake Recipe.

And for whatever reason, I can’t ascertain why….The Count, you may know him from Sesame Street… You know…the Count that likes to count.  Yeah…him…  His “Coconut Counting Man” song (sung by the Count and Harry Belafonte) started to play in my head. 

And just like that I was, One, two, three…oh oh yeah, four five six seven, I love it, wonderful coconuts! 

Okay… so I had to put back a few containers but I sure was happy!

Now if luck didn’t strike, I would have headed to a Caribbean, Latin American or Asian market where I would have most likely gotten a whole coconut (with the shell on) or frozen coconut, pre-shelled and grated in the frozen food section.  

I took my tropical haul back to my kitchen, I sorted what I was going to grate/process, and what I was going to blend (for my fresh milk). Snacked on a few pieces….very very yummy, and then I immediately freezer bagged, and stored the remainder (in the freezer).

Storing Fresh Coconut

Coconut can go rancid so it’s best to store them in the freezer until you’re ready for the next batch of coco-nutty goodness you plan on baking.  A quick whir in the food processor and Voila!…freshly grated coconut. 

Coconut Milk – HOW TO:

I chopped the coconut chunks into smaller pieces, added about 1 1/2 – 2 cups to the blender with 3/4 cups water (you might have to add a bit more when blending if the mixture is too thick (about 1/4 cup).
Give it a few pulses and just like that….fresh coconut milk.
I strained the mixture with a fine sieve, and squeezed down on the coconut grounds left behind in the sieve to extract more milk. Alternatively you could place the solid coconut remnants in a cheese cloth or muslin cloth and squeeze to extract.
I prepared mine the night before I planned to bake, so I stored both the grated coconut and the milk in the refrigerator overnight.

Now because coconut has a high fat content, I found a very thick layer of cream at the top of my milk the next morning and some slight separation of liquid at the bottom. If this happens to you, don’t go nuts…just a quick stir to recombine…and you’re good as new.

My trick for the BEST Coconut Bake Ever:

I knew I wanted a moist bread that was more on the dense side but I also wanted it to be baby soft. It must have that beautiful coconut flavour throughout…in fact…maximum coco-nuttiness! (It’s the dead of winter, so I plan to trick my mind with the smell and flavour the tropics) I sat and thought about it….and then it hit me.  Scones.  I wanted it to be the same texture as my home-baked scones, soft, great crumb and buttery.  So with a few tweaks here and there, that’s what I set out to do.

COCONUT BAKE RECIPE WITH NO YEAST

Absolutely zero yeast used in this bread recipe. I didn’t want the texture and flavour that yeast would yield, so I would have to get that “rise” from different means.

Now as I mentioned earlier, I had one of those “ah-hah!”moments. Call it…a coconut to the head (proverbially, in reality….a coconut to the head would render anyone unconscious…and result in a busted head) moment if you will. This coconut bake was gonna get the scone treatment.

Baking power and frozen butter.

The perfect solution…that would create that “rise”, add incredible moisture, and result in the best ever coconut bake.

Now you have two choices, cut the frozen butter into the flour mixture or simply grate and toss. I stuck to the latter because it’s much faster, but both ways work well.
As the frozen butter melts in the oven it creates pockets of steam that contribute to the “rise” and that concept works like a charm in this recipe.
 
All that’s left is to combine the ingredients, then bake. Once you get the prep out of the way, it really is a simple recipe.

Simple enough to make, bake and shake to a lil’ island rhythm.
All you have to do is decide how many slices you’re gonna have and if you’re sharing.
And just a lil’ suggestion.
Play the Coconut Counting Song in the background as you eat you’re first slice…then count as you eat many slices more. 
Slice one, two…three…four
A-ha-ha!