Tasty Super Moist Jamaican Coconut Bread (Toto)

As a tropical island, Jamaica is home to coconuts and it is not a surprise therefore to see many coconut dishes in Jamaican cuisine. Jamaicans enjoy their snack and Toto is a quick and tasty bread that is scored into squares and sold in shops and supermarkets around the island. There have been variations on the Toto in recent years, but whatever the variation, know that this Jamaican coconut bread will be a crowd pleasing snack.

Super Moist Quick Jamaican Coconut Bread (Toto)

Coconut

Ingredients:

Tasty Super Moist Jamaican Coconut Bread (Toto)

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cups sugar (substitute Stevia or Splenda)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup coconut milk (use evaporated milk for lighter taste)
• 5 cups freshly grated coconut ( desiccated non-sweetened coconut can be used)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp dried nutmeg (1 tsp fresh nutmeg)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinammon
• pinch of salt

METHOD:

• Blend the melted butter, coconut milk, sugar and vanilla for 1 minute
• Crack the eggs, remove the eyes and beat lightly
• Add the eggs to the mixture in the blender and blend an additional minute.
• Sift together the dry ingredients, form a well, and add the wet ingredients.
• Mix together well, taking care not to over mix
• Gently fold in the shredded/grated coconut
• Pour out and spread evenly into a greased square 8" tin
• Bake at 375 F about 40 minutes or until toothpick test shows bread is done

Coconut Toto Variation II:

Party Sized Jamaican Coconut Bread (Toto)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups sugar (substitute Stevia or Splenda)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 1/2 freshly grated coconut ( desiccated non-sweetened coconut can be used)
• 5 eggs
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 3 tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp dried nutmeg (1 tsp fresh nutmeg)
• 1 tsp ground cinammon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup raisins (optional)

METHOD:

• Blend the melted butter, coconut milk, evaporated milk, lemon juice, sugar and vanilla for 1 minute
• Crack the eggs, remove the eyes and beat lightly
• Add the eggs to the mixture in the blender and blend an additional minute.
• Sift together the dry ingredients, form a well, and add the wet ingredients.
• Fold in the wet ingredients gently, taking care not to over mix
• Gently fold in the shredded/grated coconut and raisins
• Pour out and spread evenly into two greased square 8" tin
• Bake at 375 F about 40 minutes or until toothpick test shows bread is done
• Serve with Jamaican Tastee Cheese.

Tasty Super Moist Jamaican Coconut Bread (Toto)

Kim Valentine stocks many Jamaican food items that will help you create lovely, authentic Jamaican dishes. For more tasty and delicious Jamaican cakes and bread recipes, visit my recipe page at http://www.jamaicastores.com/jamaican-recipes/info_7.html.

Make Your Own Traditional Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding

Jamaicans love their puddings. Some Jamaican puddings such as bread and butter pudding were inspired by a colonial past, while others were a result of the availability of ingredients. Puddings in Jamaica are not the same as the gelatin-based puddings as eaten in other countries. Jamaican puddings are much heartier like a bread pudding consistency and a knife is best in slicing the pudding. Jamaica has different types of puddings and one of the most popular puddings in Jamaica is the sweet potato pudding. Sweet potato in Jamaica is often a different variety than the sweet potato (or yam) used in US dishes. Additionally, the term yam sometimes used to refer to sweet potato in the US, is a starchy staple produce in Jamaica and is available in different varieties such as yellow yam and soft yam. In some Jamaican households, cooks add grated yellow yam to the pudding mixture for added texture as well as for a binding agent.

Traditionally, Jamaican home cooks grated sweet potato to make their puddings. Additionally, coconut milk, which was a main ingredient in the pudding, also meant grating the dried coconut and extracting the milk, through a series of adding water and squeezing out the resulting coconut milk. Many Jamaicans remember the reference to sweet potato pudding as 'hell a top, hell a bottom, hallelujah inna di middle.' By tradition, the pudding was baked over a coal stove by placing a type of dutch oven (know as dutchie in Jamaica) with a flat cover over a grill on the coal filled stove. The top of the cover of the dutch pot was normally filled with hot coals, hence the pudding baked from both top and bottom simultaneously. However, with the advent of ovens, food processors, blenders and canned coconut milk, home cooks now have a much easier job in making their puddings.

\"coconut Milk\"

In Jamaica, sweet potato pudding is on many restaurant dessert menus or is easily available at local bakeries at eateries. Overseas, it might not be as easy to buy a slice of sweet potato pudding, but it is quite easy to follow a recipe and make a classic Jamaican pudding. Many cities in the US, UK and Canada have Jamaican or West Indian grocery stores that stock the ingredients needed to make a traditional Jamaican pudding. So, if you feel the hankering to try a taste of Jamaica, go out, get the ingredients, and begin baking.

Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding

1 1/2 pounds grated sweet potato

½ lb grated yellow yam (omit yam if not available and use ½ lb more sweet potato)

1 1/4 cup brown sugar (or use equal amount of Splenda/Stevia)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal (you can omit the cornmeal and add 1/4 cup more flour)

4 cups canned coconut milk (reconstitute coconut milk powder if needed)

2 cup raisins

2 teaspoons grated nutmeg

2 teaspoon mixed spice

3 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt (adjust as needed)

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon brandy or white rum (optional)

METHOD:

1. Peel, wash and chop potato into small cubes and using blender, blend on "grate" option until potato is almost smooth. Alternatively, you can grate the potato
2. To get the coconut milk, you can grate the coconut, add water, and squeeze out the coconut milk that is formed. Alternatively, you can use canned or reconstituted coconut milk
3. Then once the ground work is done, mix all the dry ingredients, and then add coconut milk, vanilla, liquor and grated potato and mix well
4. Mix in raisins and pour into greased pan and dot with bits of the butter
5. Bake at 375 degrees F for about an hour until set and mixture lifts starts to shrink away from the side of the pan.
6. Cut into slices and enjoy

Make Your Own Traditional Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding

Kimberly Valentine is a Jamaican entrepreneur and business educator. She operates a Jamaican website where she sells Jamaican products and writes on Jamaican popular foods at http://www.jamaicastores.com/jamaican-recipes/info_7.html