Red Coconut Roll (Salara, Red Belly, Coconut Slice)

These remind me of being back home in St. Vincent; whenever I go back home I go straight to the bakery and buy a couple bags of these sweet treats. I was happy to find this recipe on the Inner Gourmet blog (link below). They are easy to make and so yummy! If you do make this recipe leave a comment letting me know how they turned out.

Ingredients

1 tbsp dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
¼ cup sugar
1 cup milk
¼ cup shortening
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp butter
1 egg white

Filling

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened)

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp water
5 drops of red food coloring (or until it gets to the deep red that you want)

Preparation

• Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Mix and let stand.
• Warm the milk then set aside. Combine the salt and sugar with the flour, cut shortening into the flour mixture then add the yeast, and egg. Pour the milk in and knead to make moderately stiff dough. Shape into a ball.
• Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with aluminum foil; let rise to double in size for about 1 hour. Combine all the filling ingredients and set aside.
• Punch down the dough and divide in half. Roll each half into an 12 inch x 8 inch rectangle, and brush with melted butter.
• Sprinkle half of the filling mixture on each rectangle of dough. Roll up lengthwise and seal the edges.
• Cover and let rise until double in size.
• Brush the rolls with beaten egg white. Bake at 350°F  for 20 - 30 minutes. Until the tops are brown
• Cut into slices and serve.

 Yields 2 rolls.

Inner Gourmet Blog Guyanese Red Coconut Roll