Coconut Bread (or Cake)

No doubt about it, we enjoy our sweet treats and this surely delivered. Lots of delicious coconut flavor in this bread (though why isn't it called a cake?)  Perhaps because the original recipe called for it to be baked in two loaf pans and I decided to bake mine in a tube pan. Yeah, I can be a rebel like that sometimes, grins.

Regardless, this is nice sweet cake. Was very good with coffee in the morning, and with a cuppa tea later on. One slice goes a long way towards satisfying that sweet tooth. I wouldn't say the cake is the greatest keeper. It's a dense cake, a little crumbly, and no surprise, the outside edges tended to get a bit try. Trim them off and the inside was moister.

I had a couple of different bags of coconut I wanted to use up: one was the shredded type, more commonly known I suspect, and the second was a bag of flaked organic coconut, so it had the big white snowy flakes of that delectable nut. Perhaps the flaked coconut contributed to the crumbliness of the cake, I don't know. I just know I liked it.

COCONUT BREAD (OR CAKE)

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons coconut extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour two 9" x 5" loaf pans, or a tube or bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

In a large bowl, mixing by hand, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, and coconut extract.

Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to the sugar mixture and stir only until moist.

Stir in shredded coconut.

Pour batter into pan (s).

Bake for one hour or until it tests done.** Let rest in pan for about ten minutes before removing to rack to complete cooling.

COOK'S NOTE:  Because I cooked this in a heavy metal tube pan (angel food pan) the cake/bread was done around 45-50 minutes.  So start checking around 45 minutes and adjust time accordingly.