Caribbean Banana Bread

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If you read my last post, you know I've got a lot of ripe bananas that need to be dealt with. Banana bread is an obvious choice, but I wanted something different. Katie and I both came across this recipe in the Cooking Light Cookbook. Banana bread with a twist—sounds intriguing.

I wanted to try this recipe because until recently I have always hated coconut. Now, I love it and want to try baking with it more. Toasted coconut is especially yum. I guess my taste buds are maturing. I wonder if I will start to like fish.

Katie, I'm guessing, was interested in the rum flavoring used in the bread. She loves anything with alcohol or coffee flavoring. However, you can probably guess from my blog that we're Mormon, so she's only ever had flavoring and not the real stuff. We often joke that she would be a lush on a constant caffeine high.

So, I baked a loaf and used up two more bananas. The recipe is totally easy, and the result is fantastic. The bread was so moist. The lime, coconut and rum flavoring go so well with the banana. My favorite part of the bread is the top crust with the topping. I could easily take a serrated knife, slice off the top of the loaf, and just eat that. Hey, that gives me an idea! I also love muffin tops. I think this recipe could be turned into some dang good muffins. Next time, I'll try that. Or, if you get to it first, let me know how they turned out.

That's a mighty fine lookin' loaf if I do say so myself.

I brought this to share at work. Didn't take long to disappear.

You know, the entire time I've been typing this, I've been 

singing that "lime in the coconut" song. I think it's going

to be stuck in my head for a while.

Caribbean Banana Bread
(adapted from Cooking Light Cookbook)
 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsps. butter, softened
  
• 1 oz. cream cheese (block style)
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 2 cups flour
  
• 2 tsps. baking powder
  
• ½ tsp. baking soda
  
• ⅛ tsp. salt
  
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
  
• ½ cup milk
  
• ¼ tsp. rum extract
• ½ tsp. lime zest
  
• 2 tsp. lime juice
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• ¼ cup flaked coconut
  

Beat butter and cream cheese together. Add sugar and egg and beat well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Combine banana, milk, rum extract, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla extract. Add flour to the creamed mixture alternately with the banana mixture. Mix after each addition. Stir in pecans and coconut. Pour batter into an 8"x4" loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 1 hour.* Cool in pan 10 minutes, and remove. Cool loaf slightly on a wire rack. Prepare topping and spoon over loaf.


*I used a dark metal pan, so I decreased the baking time by 10 minutes.

Topping

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  
• 2 tsps. butter
  
• 2 tsps. lime juice
  
• ⅛ tsp. rum extract
  
• 2 Tbsps. chopped pecans toasted
  
• 2 Tbsps. flaked coconut (I prefer to toast it.)
  

Combine brown sugar, butter, lime juice, and rum extract in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add pecans and coconut. Spoon over loaf.