Trinidad Sweet Bread

This Trinidad sweet bread is studded with candied cherries, mixed peel, raisins and currants.

Traditionally, Caribbean people make coconut sweet bread to celebrate special occasions and holidays, like Christmas or New Year's Day.

What is Sweet Bread?

Sweet bread is a baked, dense coconut loaf with various dried or preserved fruits and spices. While it might look like fruitcake, sweet bread has its own distinct taste and texture.

As a kid, I enjoyed sweet bread as breakfast or a snack, usually paired with a hot cup of milky tea. The grown-ups would often have a slice alongside a festive holiday drink.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Some of the ingredients in this sweet bread recipe are straightforward (i.e. all-purpose flour, baking powder, etc.), but I do want to highlight a few that are integral to the dish.

(Note that the bowl of "mixed fruit" contains the candied cherries, mixed peel, raisins and currants.)

• Shredded Coconut: makes up a large portion of the dough in this recipe. Classic recipes call for freshly grated coconut, but using frozen shredded coconut saves time. You can find this at most supermarkets in the international section of the freezer aisles. This recipe may not work with desiccated coconut.
• Candied Cherries: add sweetness and a pop of colour to the bread. You want the sugary candied (glazed) cherries sold in those little plastic tubs, not Maraschino cherries sold in liquid that you buy in jars.
• Candied Mixed Peel: citrus peels that have been candied with sugar. These also add colour and a slight bitterness to the bread. If you don't like citrus peel, you can substitute more cherries, raisins or currants.
• Currants: my mom's personal touch in this recipe. You can just use raisins if you want to, or omit both and just use candied fruit.
• Evaporated Milk: a shelf-stable milk that can be found in cans, usually in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Do not substitute regular milk. Coconut milk may work as a substitute, but I have not tested it.
• Almond Extract: not to be confused with almond essence (an artificial flavouring), although you should be able to substitute one for the other at a 1:1 ratio. You could also use vanilla extract or coconut extract, or a combination of extracts.
• Fresh Ginger: adds a brighter flavour than powdered ginger but if you don't have any, substitute a little less than ¼ teaspoon of powdered to the mix.
• Light Brown Sugar: adds a slight caramel flavour to the sweet bread that you can't get from white sugar. Yet it's not as intensely flavoured as dark brown sugar. You can use any sugar you have on hand, though.
• Allspice: a unique spice that tastes like a combination of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. We love using allspice to replicate these flavours with fewer ingredients to measure. If you don't have any, you can make a ground allspice substitute blend to use in this recipe.
  

Equipment

You will need two 9.25 x 5.25 loaf pans, a large mixing bowl, a medium mixing bowl, a flour sifter and a wooden spoon to make this sweet bread recipe.

If you do not have a flour sifter, you can use a whisk to mix your dry ingredients and then use the wooden spoon once you combine the dry with the wet ingredients.

Why I Make This Recipe

If you've been following my work for a while now, you might know that I've been slowly documenting my mom's Trinidadian recipes over the years. Today I'm sharing one of her favourite recipes: Trinidad sweet bread.

My family's version of Trini sweet bread is firm, but not dry, and it gets some crunch from a sugar glaze on top.

It took over a year of recipe testing before I could publish this on my website, largely because my mom doesn't measure anything when she bakes.

I am really proud of this recipe, though, and while our recipe is a bit different from traditional recipes, we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

(And if you're looking for more Christmas recipes to try, our cassava pone recipe is also very tasty!)

How to Make Sweet Bread

Making sweet bread is actually quite easy. Unlike a normal bread recipe, this quick bread doesn't have any yeast and doesn't require any proofing or kneading.

Mix The Dry Ingredients

The first step is to sift the flour, baking powder, ground allspice and salt. My mom sifts her mixture 4 times to make sure it's well aerated.

While sifting the flour might seem unnecessary, it actually adds air to the flour, which can help create a lighter crumb in your finished sweet bread. If you don't have a flour sifter, use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients.

Once that's done, you can add the coconut, sugar and fruit.

As I mentioned before, traditional recipes for sweet bread call for freshly grated coconut.

This requires you to buy a dry coconut (the little brown hairy ones that you see in commercials for tropical drinks), remove the husk, and then grate the flesh inside on a box grater or in a food processor with a grater attachment.

There is nothing wrong with this method, and I've done it before, but it does take a lot of time.

Also, there will be the odd time that the coconut you've bought is rancid (it's difficult to tell from the outside), and you won't be able to make the recipe.

Using frozen grated coconut saves time, and it gives you consistent results. It does spoil quickly, though (even in the freezer!), so be sure to follow the package instructions for proper storage after opening.

Some people grind their fruit in a food processor to get smaller pieces, but I like to see the large bits of raisins, currants and peel in my bread.

I just chop my cherries roughly with a knife and leave everything else as-is.

Mix The Wet Ingredients

In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, evaporated milk, almond extract, beaten eggs and grated ginger.

I know that you're supposed to use unsalted butter in baking, but we always use salted butter in this recipe. If you use unsalted butter, you will need to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe.

Once your wet ingredients are mixed, you just add them to the dry ingredients and stir to create the dough.

It's important to stir the mixture with a spoon until it's fairly stiff. It will be difficult to stir with the spoon, but this is the texture you want.

Do not try to knead the dough or mix it with your hands, as this will result in a tough, sweet bread.

Once your dough is ready, pour it into two greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 350°F. 

Bake & Glaze the Loaves

The final (crucial!) step to this sweet bread recipe is the sugar glaze that gets brushed on top.

Once the bread is cooked and has a nice golden brown colour, you need to brush on the sugar glaze while the loaves are still warm.

Then you pop them back into the oven for about 5 minutes to create a crust on the bread.

You could leave this step out if you don't want to add any more sugar to this already-sweet bread, but it does add a satisfying crunch, which I love.

How to Store

First, make sure to allow your loaves to fully cool on a wire rack before cutting it into slices. Sweet bread can be served warm or at room temperature.

Any leftover bread should be stored in an airtight container, or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

Since this recipe uses fresh coconut, it can go rancid quickly. If you can't eat both loaves within 3 days, slice the remaining loaf, wrap the slices in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag for later.

When you're ready to have a slice, simply take one out, remove the plastic wrap, and defrost before eating.

Serve With

I personally enjoy lightly toasting a slice of sweet bread and smearing a bit of salted butter on top. I'll have it with a cup of tea for breakfast or a sweet treat in the afternoon.

You could also serve sweet bread with my eggless eggnog or a cold glass of coquito, for something a little more special.

More Caribbean Baking Recipes You'll Love

• Cassava Pone
• Easter Bun
• Coconut Shortbread Cookies