Salara
Sweet bread stuffed with a rich coconut filling.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 tbsp plus ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups flour plus extra for dusting
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 egg separated
Filling
- 3 cup shredded coconut store bought, sweetened
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tbsp red food coloring
Glaze
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Combine yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in warm water. Mix together then let stand for about 10 minutes until yeast ferments
- Warm the milk, then dissolve the sugar into the milk
- Add the butter and 1 whole egg to the milk and sugar mixture, then whisk together and set aside
- Next sieve flour, add the salt and mix together
- Then add the fermented yeast and milk mixture a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, followed by the flour and salt mixture
- Mix together to form a soft dough
- Then turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead into a moderately stiff ball
- Then place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, let rise to double in size for about 1 hour.
Make the filling
- Combine all the filling ingredients, mix together well ensuring the coconut is fully covered with the red food coloring. Then set aside.
- Once the dough ball has risen to twice its original size, punch down dough ball then turn the dough ball onto a floured surface, give it a gentle knead to bring it back into a ball
- You can choose to separate the dough into two or keep it as one to make a very large salara
- Then roll the dough (or the two pieces if you choose) into a large rectangle and brush edges with egg white.
- Cover dough with the coconut filling, spreading filling evenly and as close to the edges as possible
- Roll dough lengthwise into a log
- Seal edges and place log or roll on a greased baking pan or sheet.
- Brush roll with whisked egg yolk, cover and the dough proof for 30 minutes before baking
- Preheat oven to 350°F, then bake the salara for 20 - 30 minutes
Make the Glaze
- While the salara is baking, make the glaze by combining the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and bringing to a boil
- Let boil for 5 to 10 minutes then remove from the heat
- Once the salara is golden brown, remove from the oven and brush the top with the sugar glaze
- Then let cool, cut into slices and enjoy.
Notes
1. The original recipe by Dr Betty "K" can be found on Guyana Outpost. I've modified it quite a bit but didn't want to claim it as my own.
2. I'm using store bought, shredded coconut because that's what I have available where I live. If you are using fresh shredded coconut you will need to add about 1/4 cup of sugar to your filling.
3. The glaze is a simple syrup.
4. This makes a pretty huge roll, because the best salara's I've had back home, are usually a large slice that can serve as a meal.
5. It takes a lot of food coloring to get this to the right shade of red. The salara pictured here in my opinion still needs some more food coloring to get to that bright red that salara traditionally gets. I've found that using gel coloring is a lot better than the one I have pictured above.
2. I'm using store bought, shredded coconut because that's what I have available where I live. If you are using fresh shredded coconut you will need to add about 1/4 cup of sugar to your filling.
3. The glaze is a simple syrup.
4. This makes a pretty huge roll, because the best salara's I've had back home, are usually a large slice that can serve as a meal.
5. It takes a lot of food coloring to get this to the right shade of red. The salara pictured here in my opinion still needs some more food coloring to get to that bright red that salara traditionally gets. I've found that using gel coloring is a lot better than the one I have pictured above.