Coconut Bread

from Maureen Rane

4 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp coconut extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped nuts, optional (I've never had this with nuts)

Combine eggs and sugar. Add oil and coconut extract. Sift dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk. Add coconut and nuts. Divide batter evenly between three loaf pans. Bake at 325 F for 50-60 minutes. Insert a toothpick in center of loaf to check for doneness.

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp butter

Boil for 5 minutes. Spoon mixture over cake immediately after removing cake from oven. Cool in pan for 20 minutes and then remove from pans to cool completely on a wire rack.

Helpful hint.  If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make it.  J

Buttermilk Substitute Number One
By adding acid in the form of either one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk, you can create buttermilk. Unfortunately, the rich tang that is found in true authentic buttermilk will not be present. Vinegar works best, but lemon juice will work in a pinch, so never discount it.
Buttermilk Substitute Number Two
Use the same amount of plain yogurt that you would need of buttermilk. Again, the tang found in buttermilk will not be present, but since yogurt is also rich the recipe will not suffer. Of course, you'd never want to use flavored yogurt or yogurt with fruit, as that would change the entire recipe.
Buttermilk Substitute Number Three
Make a mixture of half plain yogurt and half whole milk. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? And it will work, too. But, as noted above, buttermilk has a tang that is not easy to duplicate. You may want to add one half teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to this mixture as well.
Buttermilk Substitute Number Four
Milk. That's right, plain milk. Buttermilk is simply the liquid that is removed in the butter making process. Buttermilk is actually low in fat, which most people don't expect.
To thicken the milk and make it slightly sour, add one and three fourths teaspoons of cream of tartar to an eight-ounce cup of regular milk.