It's a Bill Granger Weekend Part 1 - Coconut Bread

So Bill Granger is my new favourite tv chef. I love his laid back style and the way he's always smiling and he give off this air of total relaxation. I've been watching Bill's Food on BBC after Saturday Kitchen (which I've gone off a bit I might add, the lovely James Martin has come crashing from his pedastal) and am loving him, so I decided to bake a couple of his recipes this weekend; Coconut Bread and Lemon Pound Cake.

I made the coconut bread this morning when I was waiting for the husbag to come back from the shops with my Lavazza coffee cos I'd run out (shock, horror!!!!!) and let me tell you this bread is gorgeous and I also had left over dessicated coconut from Christmas and was looking for a way to use it up. Bill recommends it toasted with butter and a sprinkle of icing sugar but it's perfect all on it's own in it's lovely moist density.

So here's what you need:

2 eggs
300ml milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1tsp baking powder
350 plain flour, sifted
2 tsp backing powder
1 tsp cinnamon
225g caster sugar
150g shredded/dessicated coconut
75g butter, melted

So preheat the oven to Gas 4/180.
Lightly whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together.
Sift the baking powder, flour and cinnamon into a bowl and add the sugar and coconut and mix.
Make a well in the centre and add the egg mixture stirring until combined.
Add the melted butter and stir but don't over mix.
Pour into a greased, floured loaf tin and bake for 1 hour on until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool for 5 mins before turning out onto a rack and allowing to cool.

Although there's cinnamon in this there isn't any hint of it in the final loaf so I wonder what it's purpose is but am sure it's there for a reason. My loaf tin is a pound loaf and this rose wonderfully but I needed to cover the cake after about 50 mins as it was very brown and not fully cooked in the middle so it probably had about an hour and 15 in total.