Banana-Coconut Sweet Bread

This recipe is sort of an amalgamation of banana cake and Caribbean Sweetbread. I really wanted some, so I got up and made some! Because it was so impromptu, this is a rough estimation of what I used. So here's my first picture tutorial...

Ingredients:

For the cake -

2 overripe bananas

160g butter (or suitable margarine)

160g brown sugar (preferably granulated)

2-3 eggs

180g plain flour

2 tablespoons of baking powder

1/2 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 heaped teaspoon of nutmeg

70g dessicated coconut

100ml coconut milk (or plain milk)

A bad mood

For the Coconut filling -

60 grams dessicated coconut

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

65ml of coconut milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method:

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180 Degrees Celsius/ 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar...

until fluffy and light (this is where the bad mood comes into handy!)

2. In a separate bowl, put together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and dessicated coconut.

3. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mix and stir until it looks vaguely combined (if it looks a bit like sick, you're doing it right. Okay, I know you don't want to think about sick whilst making cake, my bad!)

Mash the bananas down to a paste with a fork and then add it to the egg/butter/sugar sick resembling interesting looking mixture. It's easier to do this separately, rather than chasing banana pieces around your mixing bowl. This takes time. Precious time. Precious time that you could be using to eat your cake!

5. Add the coconut milk and mix some more.

6. Before you become completely reviled by what you've created, a la Dr Frankenstein, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and dessicated coconut. Then beat it like it owes you money! (i.e. with gusto, to make sure the flour is combined. I'm not into this whole 'folding it in' bizness).

7. Letting the cake breathe (After your bad mood was hopefully spent...) in a small container, add the other 60 grams of dessicated coconut, with the vanilla essence and brown sugar and coconut milk.

7. Grease your tin and, if you're not feeling lazy, put some greaseproof paper in the tin too.

I was feeling lazy.

8. Pour in half of the cake mixture, and then spread half of the sweet coconut mixture over the half that's already in the cake tin. And then pour the rest of the cake mixture over the coconut mixture.

Kind of like a cake-coconut-cake sandwich cake!

And then sprinkle the rest of the coconut mixture on top of the cake-coconut-cake-coconut mix!

8. Then put it into the oven for about 40-60 minutes (it varies hugely on what kind oven you have!)

Adorable and hungry baby cousin to intently watch cake is optional.

9. When you put a toothpick/skewer, fork into the centre and it comes out with just a few crumbs clingly desperately to it, then the cake is done! Leave it on a cooling rack to...well, cool.

And then have a small slice....or a big slice, and turn your cake into a celebration of Pacman!

Even if you do as I did, and demolish that huge chunk all by yourself, you won't feel guily, because it taste so. darn. good. Moist, coconutty, creamy, and just the right amount of spice to tantalise your tastebuds....Dangit, I think I'm going to have to make another one at this rate!

Happy om nom nom noming!

Tweet