Banana and coconut loaf - an experiment

We had a flurry of birthdays in my office this week and it is tradition for the birthday people to provide cakes and other snacks to celebrate their getting older.  Although I am not sure why the birthday guy or gal should have to bring in the food when it is THEIR birthday - but anyway that's the way it has been and always will be.

So as part of this "fuddle" - a northern term for smorgasbord, collection of food.  It does have another more obvious meaning but in this case it does relate to food ;) - I said I would bake a cake.  I can't remember the exact moment of inspiration, but I fancied making a banana and coconut loaf with limes thrown in for good measure.  


I love the trinity of flavour theory (three complimentary flavours in a dish) and in this case it was banana, coconut and lime.

So I set about ripening my bananas, buying desiccated coconut (which it turns out I didn't need as I had enough already) and limes for the lime curd that would accompany the loaf.

Tuesday after work was B-day (baking day).  

Spiced banana and coconut loafcake - http://www.feedingboys.co.uk/2011/02/04/spiced-banana-and-coconut-loafcake/

125g butter, softened
175g soft brown sugar – I used half light, half dark muscavado
3-4 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp mixed spice
150g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
100g desiccated coconut
1 tsp bicarb soda
50ml warm milk (or 25mls milk 25mls dark rum which is what I did)

The first mistake I made was not leaving the butter out during the day, so had to soften it in the over (I don't own a microwave  - no space for it).  Second mistake was forgetting about it, I pulled the butter out of the oven sopping on the outside yet cold in the middle... it was going to be a long bake!

Once I had cleaned up the mess I got everything ready, I was soon presented with the next issue.  My dark muscavado was rock solid, due to the molasses added to the sugar it can turn it solid; that and leaving it too long in the cupboard.  But what's the worse that could happen?  Five minutes of stabbing wildly with a wooden spoon with bits of butter and sugar flying everywhere I was beginning to lose it.  In the end I just had to leave it and get on with the rest of the bake.  

Everything else went well enough, the usual battle of getting it all to combined when it all looks to have split.  At last I was ready to put it in the over (after a few attempts at breaking up the larger lumps muscavado sugar), loaf tin lined and away we go.  42 mins later the skewer came out clean, but was it really cooked?!  

Now on with the lime curd... I had had dinner by that point too.

• Lime curd - http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/512959 
• finely grated zest and juice of 3 limes - make that 4 - 5 limes if you want a sharper flavour.
• 225 g caster sugar
• 150 g unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks

It says prep time 5 mins cooking time 15, the prep time works out correctly, cooking time - it took longer than 15 mins.  Curd is a delicate creature and if you treat it with disrespect then you end up with limy scrambled eggs YUCK.  

I will say that the double boiler (bowl over a pan of simmering water making sure the bowl does not touch the water) method is the better way to do it.  The other method is to make it all in the pan, but it's harder to control the temperature.  The double boiler method means you can turn the heat off, letting the water cool down but still steamy, turn it back on for a bit, turn it off again etc.  

Anyway once the mixture starts to thicken (coating the back of a spoon) it's taken off the heat and stirred until much thicker.  This takes time - A LOT of time, but to ensure a light curd it needs to be stirred until the mixture is completely cool.  It says the recipe makes 4-6, but what that 4-6 is anyone's guess.  Oh and don't bother with the sieve trick.  Just have the water off a couple of minutes before adding the eggs a bit at a time.  Don't turn the heat on again until all the egg is mixed in well.

Once it was all done it was time to take it in for the fuddle.  There was very little left of the loaf at the end of the day, and some of the curd had been eaten too.  Everyone in work seemed to like it, which is always good.  Personally it was alright, the loaf could have baked for a little longer, but the curd was nice.

So time for the scales;

Loaf: - 
Faff = 3 
Time = making 3 (42.44 mins attended) would have been 5-10 mins less if the mascavdo was not in lumps baking 1 (42 - should have been at least 45 mins unattended) 
Smug = 1 - I really could have done better with the baking and I think I will add 2 tsps of mixed spice as I prefer a stronger spice flavour

Curd: - 
Faff = 1.5
Time = 3 (69 mins) could have knocked off over 5 mins if I used a hand whisk instead of a small wooden spoon.
Smug = 2 it tastes lovely but it is for just a curd.

So in conclusion, the recipes were just fine, lovely in fact, it was me who failed to make the most of it.  I do not recommend making both items on the same day, it's a lot of standing and mixing.  On the plus side the loaf is not something you can buy in the supermarkets, or else where that easily, and the curd makes a fair amount for toast or lime tarts.

Next time I will not bite off more than I can chew.



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