Transport you to your Childhood

There are a few recipes that instantly transport you to childhood, and this coconut loaf is one of them. It’s the kind of thing that would quietly appear on the kitchen bench in the afternoon, wrapped in a tea towel, still warm from the oven. My mum and nana used to make this often — it wasn’t fancy, but it never needed to be. Soft, simple, and full of coconut, it was perfect with a cuppa or packed into a tin for school lunches.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar (220g)
• 2 cups self-raising flour (300g)
• 1 cup desiccated coconut (90g)
• 1 cup milk (250ml)

Method:

• 1. Preheat your oven to 170°C (fan-forced). Grease and line a standard loaf tin.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, self-raising flour, coconut, and milk.
  3. Stir until the mixture is well combined and smooth. The batter should be thick and pourable.
  4. Pour into your prepared loaf tin and gently smooth the surface.
  5. Bake for 35–45 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  6. Let it cool in the tin for 5–10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

To Serve:

This loaf is beautiful served warm with a knob of salted butter or cold with a dollop of whipped ricotta and a drizzle of honey. You can toast it the next day and top with passionfruit curd, or slice it up to enjoy with tea on a quiet afternoon.