RED BELLY BREAD

Red Belly Bread image

This recipe is a favourite on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. My mother-in-law gave it to me and I always make it around Christmas time. You can do one batch with red food colouring and one with green food colouring if you wish. They look very festive because it is home made bread with a swirl of red/green coconut. It takes a bit of time and effort but it's well worth it.

Provided by Ranikabani

Categories Breads

Time 2h45m

Yield 5 loaves

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

2 coconuts
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
red food coloring, enough to get the shade of red that you want (it takes a LOT of food colouring to get it to be the deep red that I personally like)
1 1/2 tablespoons tenderflake shortening
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 package fleishmann yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup water
5 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup flour, for rolling purposes

Steps:

On the stove cook the first four ingredients until the water has evaporated (lets call this combination "(A*)".
With the next four ingredients in a clean sauce pan: Scald milk (not boil).
Add sugar and shortening and salt. (Lets call this combination "(B*)").
For the next 3 ingredients: Put in a glass bowl and let sit 15 minutes. (Lets call this combination (C*) .
Combine (B*) and (C*) and add 5 cups of flour with about 1-2 cups of water (I use about 1 1/2 cups) Mix with spoon very fast.
Roll onto a floured board for 8-10 minutes adding about 1 cup of flour as necessary for rolling purposes to stop it from sticking to the board.
Shape into one ball and cover with a clean tea towel and let it rise for about one hour.
Divide into 4-5 balls, and roll each ball out about 1/4 inch thin.
Spread coconut mixture (A*) onto it, roll up, tucking the ends under.
Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray (or on a greased cookie sheet), seam side down, leaving a little gap between loaves.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 1529, Fat 60.3, SaturatedFat 49.5, Cholesterol 6.8, Sodium 995.2, Carbohydrate 232.3, Fiber 18.6, Sugar 101.1, Protein 22.9