Winter Breads from Casa de Cuisine: Cuban Coconut Bread

Unfortunately, due to politics, not many American's have had the pleasure of visiting the island country of Cuba. This is truly unfortunate as the beauty of this country must simply been seen to be believed.

Nestled among the the deep blue sea of the Caribbean, Cuba is a country of immense history and one of the true gems in the international culinary crown. To dine on true Cuban cuisine is indeed the ultimate in pleasure.

This bread from Cuba exemplifies everything about Cuban food. It is rich with flavor, abundant in taste and very simple to prepare. With each and every bite you get a dose of fresh coconut and the richness of the heavy cream which brings this bread together.

I also love this bread in the morning when it is slightly toasted. No need to put anything else on it, just the freshness of the slightly toasted coconut is a great way to start a day.

From the kitchen of Casa de Cuisine to your winter kitchen, I hope you enjoy this slice of Cuban cuisine.

Ingredients needed to make Cuban Coconut Bread (makes 1 loaf):

• 2 ¼ cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• ½ cup butter, chilled and diced
• 1 1/3 cups grated coconut
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups whipping cream

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Line the bottom of a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar and baking powder. Add the butter and using a pastry blender or your fingertip, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse mean.
3. Stir in the grated coconut until just blended.
4. In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla and whipping cream. Stir this mixture into the flour to form a thick batter.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and even out the top.
6. Place in oven and bake 45 minutes or until done.
7. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool on a rack.

Chef's Note: Instead of grating your own coconut, do yourself a favor and buy the grated coconut at your local market (just make sure it is organic). If you are not used to grating coconut you can do very serious damage to your knuckles and /or fingertips.

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