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Coconut Sweet Bread

A dense, fragrant loaf packed with grated coconut, raisins and spice. A Christmas-season favourite worth baking any time.

Breakfast and Bakes

  • 1 hr 25 min est.
  • Serves 12
  • Easy
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A loaf of coconut bread in its baking tin

Sweet bread is a rich coconut loaf baked in Trinidad and Tobago homes around Christmas, alongside black cake and sorrel. It is closer to a quick bread than a cake: dense, moist and heavy with grated coconut, with raisins, mixed peel and warm spice.

Slice it thick and eat it with a cup of tea or a cold glass of sorrel.

The recipe

Coconut Sweet Bread

Prep
25 min
Cook
1 hr
Total
1 hr 25 min
Serves
12
Makes
1 large loaf

Times and quantities are our best estimates. This recipe is still being kitchen-tested, so trust your eyes and taste as you go.

Ingredients

Tick items off as you gather them.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line a 9 × 5 inch (23 × 13 cm) loaf tin.
  2. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the coconut, raisins and mixed peel.
  3. Whisk the melted butter, egg, milk and vanilla together and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix to a thick, stiff batter.
  4. Spread in the tin and smooth the top.
  5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
  6. Brush the top with the sugar glaze and bake for 2 more minutes. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.

Serve it with

  • Thick slices with butter and a cup of tea
  • With sorrel at Christmas

Substitutions

  • Swap the raisins for chopped glacé cherries or extra mixed peel.
  • Use coconut milk for a stronger coconut flavour.

Storing and reheating

  • Wrap well and keep at room temperature for up to 4 days.
  • It freezes well, sliced and wrapped.

Cook's notes

  • The batter is meant to be stiff; resist adding extra liquid.

https://trinbagorecipes.com/recipes/coconut-sweet-bread/

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