✓Low-carb ✓Gluten-free ✓Grain-free ✓Ketogenic (ratio: 3.1) ✓Cow dairy free*
(*If using goat’s butter)
At last – something to dip in your boiled egg on Easter Sunday!
I have made this loaf three times now, and it is a revelation. It is low-carb very high-fat, gluten free, and suitable for a ketogenic diet. For those that need to be on such diets this is a game changer, and will make the preparation of ketogenic meals so much easier. The large amounts of coconut in this recipe will provide a good dose of medium chain fatty acids raising ketones and boosting brain function too.
What is remarkable when you look at the ingredients list is that it works at all. At first sight it appears to have no wheat-equivalent component to provide the ‘bready’ texture. For example, in my almond loaf the ground almonds are clearly the flour substitute, but in this case – all the ingredients are liquid! Yet amazingly, this loaf has a texture closer to bread, and less cake like, than the almond loaf. Even when cut quite thinly it is strong enough to spread butter on, and dips into egg without breaking. You can see how well is slices in these photos. Granted, these were slices of the crust end to my last loaf, but just look at the photos further down and you will readily trust what I am saying.
Whilst this loaf has a mild background coconut flavour, the moment you put anything on it, apart from simply butter, which is delicious enough, you will quickly forget that it was made with coconut at all. Give it a go and let me know what you think.
This recipe is modified from one I found on the internet which used coconut butter – an expensive finely-blended product that comes in a nut-butter jar. I tried it that way first and it worked a treat, but I have now perfected it using standard creamed coconut, which is easily available from most supermarkest, and is less than half the price of the coconut butter. One issue to watch out for is that as the creamed coconut cools the batter gets rather stiff, so if your blender isn’t man enough you might have to finish the mixing by hand. It happened to me once but it still turned out perfectly.
Recipe – 1 large loaf – e.g. 8″ x 5″ x 3″, 800g (22 thin slices)
Eggs, 8, whole, shelled
Creamed coconut, 400g (two standard 200g packs), melted in their packets
Butter, 90g, (or ghee) melted
Raising agents, premixed:
1/3 tsp tartaric acid
2/3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
Thoroughly grease a tin (roughly 8in x 4in), especially the base, or you could line just the base with baking parchment to ensure easy removal from the tin.
Place the unopened plastic sachets of creamed coconut in a bowl of very hot water to melt them. Make sure they are fully liquid and hot when you use them. You may need to replace the hot water at least once to ensure this. Melt your butter or ghee in a pan on a gentle heat so as not to scorch it.
Whizz up the eggs in a blender. Keep it running and add the warm melted butter.
Add the melted coconut by snipping open the sachets and pour them into the mix with the blender running. (Make sure they are piping hot, otherwise they may be too stiff to blend)
Finally add the pre-mixed raising agents and salt and blend the mix thoroughly.
Pour the batter into the previously greased tin, and smooth the top flat with a knife.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150° for 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn out on a rack and allow to cool completely.
Take care – this is an energy dense beast! At 500 kCal/100g its about twice the calories of the same weight of white bread, so cut slices thinly – they will be filling.
Macronutrients per 100g (1/8 loaf)
P: 11g C: 4g F: 47g Ketogenic Ratio: 3.1 Energy: 500 kCal/100g
I’d be really interested to know how you all get on with this one. Please leave your comments below, or email me photos of how you are using it and I’ll add them to this post.
Looks amazing – where to we get tartaric acid?
I got the cream of tartar/tartaric acid in Waitrose, but the baking section of any supermarket should stock it. If you have to resort to baking powder do watch out for the rice flour that is in most of these premade products. I think one can get a ready made version without rice flour but the bog standard stuff will probably contain it. Rice is in the same botanical family as wheat (the Poaceae or Gramineae family) so I avoid it entirely, hence making my own with the basic materials tartaric acid and sodium bicarbonate in a 1:2 ratio.
In answer to your question, I think ‘cream of tartar’ is AKA tartaric acid, and is generally found in home baking sections.
I misread the qty of coconut and only put ~1/4 of the amount in. Wondered why my mixture was so sloppy! However, the result was still acceptable. Great fried in slices with streaky bacon. Will definitely be trying this again. When I’ve got more used to the recipe, I might try adding ground linseeds. Thanks for the recipe, Afifah!
I am intrigued and amazed that this loaf was ‘still acceptable’ with only 1/4 of the intended amount of creamed coconut! So did you just use half of one bag/brick of creamed coconut?
I too am going to play with this recipe, adding sesame seeds maybe, and putting some on the top; caraway seeds might be nice in it; and I am keen to try adding some tomato puree, oregano and sliced olives too to make a sort of focaccia… Send in your variations on this basic bread theme please, with photos if possible.
Cheers
Afifah
Hi, I halved the recipe, as I didn’t want to take the risk of using 8 eggs if I didn’t like the result. I have Patak’s sachets in the cupboard, and thought this is what you’d used. So when your recipe stated “two standard 200g packs” I stupidly thought, ‘Oh, half of that; so just 1 sachet’ – but hadn’t noticed the Patak sachets are only 50g. Feel foolish when explaining how the mistake came about! That’ll teach me not to rush. It was ‘acceptable’, but did not rise much, or look very good. I like the variations you’ve suggested. When I get a decent enough looking loaf, I’ll post a photo.
Regards – Jo
Hey, we all make mistakes! Great that it worked at all. No shame in learning eh?
Hi there! I’ve made this a couple of times now, and really like to have a supply of this sliced in the freezer, ready for when I want a couple of slices. I love the texture of it….it’s great fried with streaky bacon. Or, toasted with Marmite on top.
I’ve also adapted the recipe to make “intense chocolate muffins” – not Ketogenic, but pretty low carb. I like my chocolate dark and not sweet, so these are perfect. I’ll be having one this evening with a lovely dollop of creme fraiche.
Ingredients
2 eggs;
50g sachet of Patak’s creamed coconut; (see, there was a good reason to have small sachets)
10g butter;
50 g Bonnat 100% dark chocolate
15g Tate & Lyle white sugar with Stevia (if I was using a lower % chocolate, I probably wouldn’t use as much, if at all)
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder mix
Method is more or less the same as for the bread. I made a bain marie to melt the chocolate, by placing a dish over the pan in which I was warming the creamed coconut sachet.
Poured into x6 silicone moulds and cooked @ 150 degrees C, for approx 20 mins.
If you like Afifah, I could send a photo or two.
Regards – Jo
That sounds brilliant Jo. Please send me photos and I will add it to the end of the blog (I don’t think it will show in the comments section, though you could try…). As I say to patients, there are no mistakes in life, only discoveries, and you discovered that the 50g sachets of creamed coconut have a role in a delicious low carb, nearly ketogenic cake. I wonder how it would taste if made with just a few drops of liquid stevia… I stock it, so will try these myself and will work out the macronutrient ratios. Thanks for sharing. Afifah
I have just made this bread and found it really easy. It is tempting not to wait long enough for the coconut to melt; I needed three lots of boiling water. The loaf didn’t rise evenly ; maybe I didn’t whizz it enough after I added the raising agents. Maybe I mis-judged 1/3 tsp, I just guessed a bit more than 1/4 and a bit less than 1/2- not that exact I have to admit. Also, although the top is beautifully pale yellow, the bottom half is a rather alarming shade of green! However I know all the ingredients are safe for me to eat and it tasted delicious. Being greedy I couldn’t wait for it to cool completely; it is delicious warm. I am glad to learn from another comment that I can freeze it; I’ll slice it and freeze each slice individually. Next time I am gong to halve the mixture, add grated cheese to one and cinnamon or vanilla to the other.
Great to hear that it has worked so well for you Sarah. My recently baked loaf is going down fast, and is especially good with butter, cheese and homemade pickle!
I am keen to hear how the your cheesey one and cinnamon or vanilla versions work out. I have done one with sliced black olives in in which I also added some extra virgin olive oil (replacing half of the melted butter with it) along with some dried oregano, and it worked well. I am not sure why yours looked so green… I am always surprised by the yellow nature of mine, but then the eggs I use have orange yolks, so I put it down to that. Certainly mixing very thoroughly is important, so next time make sure you do that and it might rise more evenly. Enjoy your new creative baking!
My 1st version had a blueish green tinge to it! I think it’s the coconut, but didn’t change the flavour or texture.
I would like to try this but I live in the middle of nowhere in california. We don’t have these coconut sachets –what can I substitute with–coconut milk? Trader joes carries cans of coconut cream, is that what you’re talking about?
Hi Teriz, I had no idea that creamed coconut would be hard to find in the USA, but having looked into it there does seem to be some difficulty in parts of your huge country. You might find that something called ‘coconut butter’ is available, and that will do perfectly, as it is just another name for what we in the UK call ‘creamed coconut’, but rather than going by the name solely, look at the nutrition panel on whatever product you are looking at. To work in this recipe it needs to be around 60 -70 % fat and 6-7% protein. You cannot use ‘coconut milk’, no way, it will not work at all, nor can you use ‘coconut cream’ as the fat content is only around 20% or so, but check out whatever coconut products you can find where you are and go by the fat content. Good luck with it.
oh, don’t imagine you will read any of this, but I wrote a minute ago about my liquid loaf.
rereading. I did same thing as another gal. used wrong amount of c cream. DANG, what a waste ! Will try again. tomorrow
Hi! I’m so happy to discover you and your wonderful recipes and general approach to health! A true kindred spirit. I’ve only recently returned to the UK, and most of my contacts for this approach to health are overseas.
I love this recipe and am excited to try it; however, the idea of melting the creamed coconut (one of my most favorite things) inside the plastic gives me the heebie jeebies — surely the heated plastics would leach and be readily absorbed by the coconut fat? When I make it, I will melt the creamed coconut on a low flame on the stove…
I’ve now tried this, simply melting the creamed coconut on the stove and whisking the eggs by hand (a half recipe to try). It’s so easy to make, and it’s so delicious! I’m celiac and have no interest in bread, but my mum now wants to be lower carb and is a bread eater, so I’m trying to find options for her, and this is a godsend! Thank you!!!