Chef Juliette
Ordinary Brioche Paste
Pâte à brioche ordinaire teaches enriched dough properly: wake the leaven, build strength before the last egg, then work in pliable butter by stages and let one long fermentation do its quiet work.
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Faikakai (Tokelau Coconut Bread)
Created by
A sweet, sturdy Tokelau coconut bread, rich with grated mature coconut and fresh cream, baked golden for tea, travel, and one more cousin at the table.
Breads
Polynesian, Tokelauan
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
45 min cook•2 hr 50 min total
Yield1 large loaf, 8 to 10 slices
Pulaka comes first in Tokelau, the giant swamp-taro hauled from pits dug down into coral, because that root tells you where the people stand. The land is narrow, the lagoon is wide, and the pits are getting salty now, so every food that still comes from the island carries extra weight. Faikakai, this Tokelau coconut bread, sits in that same truth: simple flour from the barge, yes, but the coconut is from the tree, the cream is squeezed by hand, and the table still knows its own ground.
Tokelau is not Tuvalu, and Tuvalu is not Tokelau, even though both know the hard wisdom of coral soil, pulaka pits, pandanus, fish, toddy from the coconut flower, and the barge food that fills the gaps. Food on a barge is the wound. Feeding the island from its own ground is the repair. So here the coconut matters. Grate it fine, squeeze the cream if you can, and let that fat soften the dough until it bakes into a sweet, sturdy loaf for tea.
Across the Triangle the cousins answer in their own hands. Sāmoa has pani popo, soft buns baked in coconut sauce; Tonga has coconut breads and keke for the table; Hawaiʻi has sweet breads that came through later plantation kitchens, sitting beside older kalo and ʻulu foods. Same ocean, different bowl, and this one belongs to Tokelau.
I cook this open-handed, because Tokelau's deep table belongs first to Tokelau people and their elders. What I can give you is a kitchen version that respects the work: don't rush the rise, don't thin the coconut cream to nothing, and don't treat the loaf like decoration. Slice it thick. Eat what you have. Save some for tomorrow.
Tokelau's food world is shaped by three small coral atolls, Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo, where pulaka is grown in excavated pits below the freshwater lens and coconut, fish, pandanus, and toddy carry much of the daily table. Wheat flour, rice, sugar, and corned beef arrived through mission, trade, and shipping networks, and island cooks folded those goods into existing coconut-centered foodways instead of letting the older foods disappear. Faikakai shows that living middle ground: a contemporary bread made with imported flour, but given its Tokelau body by grated coconut and fresh coconut cream.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-purpose flour
Quantity
3 cups
plus more for kneading
fresh grated mature coconut
Quantity
1 cup
lightly packed
thick fresh coconut cream
Quantity
1 cup
warm but not hot, or canned coconut cream
active dry yeast
Quantity
2 1/4 teaspoons
sugar
Quantity
1/3 cup
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
coconut oil or softened butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons
large egg
Quantity
1
lightly beaten
warm water (optional)
Quantity
1/4 cup
use only if the dough needs it
coconut cream
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for brushing the top
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-purpose flourplus more for kneading | 3 cups |
| fresh grated mature coconutlightly packed | 1 cup |
| thick fresh coconut creamwarm but not hot, or canned coconut cream | 1 cup |
| active dry yeast | 2 1/4 teaspoons |
| sugar | 1/3 cup |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
| coconut oil or softened butter | 2 tablespoons |
| large egglightly beaten | 1 |
| warm water (optional)use only if the dough needs it | 1/4 cup |
| coconut creamfor brushing the top | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •9 by 5 inch loaf pan
- •Box grater or coconut scraper
- •Pastry brush
Instructions
- 1
Wake the yeast
Stir the yeast into the warm coconut cream with a spoonful of the sugar and let it stand 5 to 10 minutes, until it looks creamy and alive. Warm means body-warm, not hot. If you scorch the yeast, no blame the dough.
Fresh coconut cream gives the bread its Tokelau heart. A thick can is fine on a weeknight, but shake it well and use the rich part, not only the watery part. - 2
Mix the dough
In a wide bowl, mix the flour, grated coconut, remaining sugar, and salt. Add the foamy coconut cream, coconut oil or butter, and beaten egg, then stir until a shaggy dough comes together. It should feel soft and a little tacky from the coconut, not dry and stiff.
- 3
Knead it soft
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 8 to 10 minutes, adding warm water a tablespoon at a time only if the dough feels tight. The grated coconut will make the dough a little rough under your palms at first, then it smooths out and starts to spring back. That's the feel you want.
- 4
Let it rise
Set the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Don't rush this part. The loaf needs time to take in the coconut fat and grow light enough for the table.
- 5
Shape the loaf
Press the dough down gently, shape it into a tight loaf, and set it seam-side down in a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan or on a banana-leaf-lined baking tray. Cover and let it rise again 30 to 40 minutes, until puffy and almost doubled.
- 6
Bake it golden
Heat the oven to 350F. Brush the top with the tablespoon of coconut cream and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the loaf is deep golden, glossy on top, and sounds hollow when tapped. If the top darkens too fast, tent it lightly with foil.
- 7
Cool and share
Let the bread cool at least 20 minutes before slicing, so the coconut crumb settles instead of tearing. Serve thick slices with tea, extra coconut cream, butter, or alongside pulaka, fish, rice, or corned beef the way real island tables make room for old and new together.
Chef Tips
- •If you can grate a mature coconut fresh, do it. The bread smells fuller, the crumb stays moist, and the coconut actually tastes like itself.
- •Do not pack in too much flour while kneading. Coconut bread wants a soft dough. A dry dough bakes into a heavy loaf and then everybody starts blaming the recipe, but the flour did that.
- •Tokelau and Tuvalu both know the pulaka pit and the coral-soil struggle, but name them straight. This loaf is Tokelau's table; Tuvalu's table has its own elders and its own hand.
- •Leftover slices toast well the next day. Butter them, or warm them with a spoon of coconut cream and a pinch of sugar for a small comfort bowl.
Advance Preparation
- •Grate the coconut the same day if you can; fresh coconut dries out and loses fragrance as it sits.
- •The loaf can be baked a day ahead, wrapped once fully cool, and kept at room temperature. Toast slices to bring back the coconut aroma.
- •For morning bread, shape the loaf the night before, cover it tightly, refrigerate it, and bake after it warms and finishes rising.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 90g)
Calories
350 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
270 mg
Total Carbohydrates
44 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
7 g
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