Coconut craze

Coconut is happiness to Ryan. He loves coconut. Any dish in which coconut is an ingredient makes Ryan—happy. Coconut is all there is to it. His obsession with coconut baffles my sisters to no end. When they’re getting him a food present, the food present in their mind is coconut, which to them presents a challenge because there are only so many (somewhat) imperishable processed food products that contains coconut. Primarily cookies and chocolates. And I think my sisters have exhausted themselves of ideas.

Unsurprisingly, Ryan isn’t the only coconutaholic in his family. His Mom and younger sister are as well. I won’t be amazed to hear if Nancy craved coconut when she was pregnant with Ryan and Kara. Because of this coconut craze, I’ve been tweaking recipes and adding coconut milk or cream then changing its name to “Kara Coconut -fill in the blank-“. I decided on “Kara Coconut” versus “Ryan Coconut” because the former is more pleasant sounding. Coincidentally, there’s a coconut product line called kara® (photo taken by Ryan). So it makes perfect sense to use a kara® brand coconut product when making my “Kara Coconut” recipes.

As I write this article, Ryan’s plane is flying over the Bay Area and should be landing soon. He’ll be spending July 4^th weekend with his family. I promised Kara that I’ll be sending over a Coconut Cream Bread with Ryan so I spent part of yesterday making two batches: one for Ryan’s family and another for us.

Kara Coconut Cream Bread

1 packet active dry yeast
¼ cup water
²/₃ cup coconut cream
4 cups bread or all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
¼ lb melted butter

Filling
6 tablespoons desiccated coconut
5 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sugar

Glaze
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar

 

Prepare the yeast with the water (see manufacturer’s instructions).
Sift the flour into a large along with the salt and sugar. Make a well in the center then add the yeast mixture, coconut cream, melted butter, and beaten egg. Gradually bring the mixture together until a soft dough is formed. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, shiny, and elastic.

Put the dough in a clean, lightly greased bowl, and coat its surface with oil. Cover with a clean, damp towel and allow it to rise in room temperature until its size has doubled.

Cream the butter then add the desiccated coconut and sugar.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for two minutes then roll (with a rolling pin) and stretch it into a rectangle. Spread the creamed butter mixture onto the surface. For the next process, think of rolling a rug. Close the dough by rolling the edges closest to you onto itself towards the opposite edges. Shape the rolled dough into a coiled spiral

Alternatively, you can shape the dough as buns instead of a coiled spiral. In which case, divide the dough into 8 even-size pieces, stretch into a square, add a teaspoon of the creamed butter mixture, then pinch close the corners together and smooth the dough into a ball. Do this process to the other 7 pieces.

Butter a baking sheet or pan and place the dough on(/in) it. Cover with a damp towel and let it rise again until nearly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 400⁰F.

Mix the sugar into the melted butter and brush the dough with the mixture.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the bread/buns from the baking sheet/pan and set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Here it is, awaiting Ryan’s approval. Notice the caramelized top. That’s intentional and due to the sugar from the glaze, and gives a nice subtle crunch.

Mmm. Enjoy!

After all this talk about coconut, I now have Harry Nilsson’s Coconut song in my head.

“…Put de lime in de coconut, and drink ’em both up…”

“…Put de lime in de coconut, and drink ’em both up…”

“…Put de lime in de coconut, and drink ’em both up…”

…