Bill’s coconut bread

It’s 32ºC (90ºF) now here in Sao Paulo and many people wish they were at the beach. But not me – I don’t like going to the beach...

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Now that you have finished throwing rotten tomatoes at me, I’ll go on. :D

I don’t like the salt, the sand, the heat... I do go to the beach, though – Joao loves it. And people do the craziest things for love, don’t they?
Luckily, I have found 2 or 3 beach haters like me in the world – like Mark – and stopped feeling like a freak. :D

Bill Granger reminds me of the beach – it seems that everything he makes has a tropical, fresh feel. Not to mention that gorgeous house by the ocean we see on the show (Joao would love to have one like that). This is one of his recipes and I liked the result very much.

Bill’s coconut bread

2 eggs
1 ¼ cups (300ml) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 ½ cups (350g) plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup (200g) caster sugar
150g unsweetened shredded coconut
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF; grease and flour a 21x10cm (8 ½x4in)* loaf pan.

Lightly whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together.
Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and coconut, and stir to combine.
Make a well in the centre and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined.
Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, being careful not to over-mix.
Pour into prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.
Leave in the pan to cool for 5 minutes, and remove to cool further on a wire rack.
Serve in thick slices, toasted, buttered and dusted with icing sugar.

* I used a 26x10.5cm loaf pan and it was pretty full. The batter did not overflow, though.

Makes 8-10 thick slices