Coconut Bread with Sweet Pineapple Butter for Tyler Florence Fridays

My pick this week for Tyler Florence Fridays (TFF), Coconut Bread with Sweet Pineapple Butter, comes from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen, which is the first of his five cookbooks.  I was attracted to this recipe because I love anything coconut and it's always nice to have some tropical-inspired breakfast and snack recipes in my repertoire when people come to visit. 

Tyler says: "If you're ever in Sydney, Australia, there is a breakfast place in Darlinghurst called bills. The name is simple, and the place serves simply some of the best food I've ever had. When you order coffee, the waiter brings out small plates of warm toasted coconut bread freshly dusted with powered sugar. After one bite, my girlfriend and I decided to go back for breakfast every morning for the rest of our trip. This bread really holds up if you wrap it in plastic or put it in a storage container. You’ll still be snacking on it days later."

Coconut Bread with Sweet Pineapple Butter

Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Coconut Bread:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of I lemon, finely grated
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted (see Note)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Sweet Pineapple Butter:
1(8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Pour in the coconut milk and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together with a spatula until you have a smooth batter. Gently fold in the shredded coconut until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and set it on a cookie sheet, Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning. Cool the bread in the pan for 20 minutes or so; then when cool enough to handle, remove the coconut bread to a cutting board and let it cool completely before slicing.

Press the liquid out of the crushed pineapple using the back of a spoon. (If there is too much juice, the fruit will separate from the butter.) In a small bowl, mash the pineapple with the softened butter until well blended. A food processor is a quick alternative to making the compound butter, so use it if you have one, Mound the butter in a small serving bowl. Toast the slices of coconut bread. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with the creamy pineapple butter.

Note: To toast the coconut: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the coconut on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring it periodically Toasting will fluff up the coconut and increase its volume (as well as make it taste better).

Notes/Results:  Being NOT A BAKER!, I took my bread out of the oven right at an hour and still managed to get it a bit too brown, but otherwise, I really liked this recipe.  The coconut flavor is excellent and the bread stayed moist, even though I over-baked it. The toasted, warm bread with the pineapple butter is delicious. I would make this recipe again and the pineapple butter would also be great on scones or muffins.

Do you love Tyler as much as we do? If so, consider joining us for Tyler Florence Fridays (TFF). You have the flexibility to choose which Tyler recipe you want to make each week, based on your needs. You can get the details at the TFF site here and also check out the weekly round up to see what the other TFF bloggers made this week and get their expert feedback on their picks.

Feeling soupy? (or noodle-y, or stew-y) and want to drop by and share your comforting creation? Join me for Souper Sundays! All you need to do is make a soup, stew, chili, slow cooker dish, etc. (Really almost anything that is served in a bowl will work!) Send me an email or leave a comment before Sunday and let me know you'll be stopping by and I'll add you to that week's round up so you can share your souper creation. You can make and post the soup any time, I just round them up on Sundays.