Coconut Persimmon Bread

A quick bread with a nice moistness and not-too-sweet flavour. It also freezes well. I send a version of this bread (usually without persimmon) to my father-in-law each year for his birthday. It keeps and travels well. The recipe is also adaptable. Substitute banana, add some currants or dried cherries. Leave it only coconut-all wonderful variations that we've enjoyed.

The bread does brown quickly on the outside, so cover the top loosely with foil if it looks like it is about to burn. You'll notice the bread does not have any butter or oil in it, which is admittedly a bit odd for this sort of bread. It does dry out a bit at the crust, but i think that texture is rather nice and it softens up as it stores. The bread does best wrapped tightly in waxed paper and then tightly in cling wrap.

You Will Need:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 very ripe persimmons, peeled, mashed and seeds removed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9x5x3 pan. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. At this point, let the mixture stand for 20 minutes (I have no idea why, but the original recipe I've been using for 20 years said to).

Pour into prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes, checking to make sure top isn't browning too quickly. Cover it loosely with foil if it does.

Cool on rack.