Fresh Mango Bread

I was so excited about this recipe when I saw that it was a pick for Tuesdays with Dorie this month. I couldn't wait to make it! I love love love mango, and quick-breads are definitely a favorite of mine to make. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to find any ripe mangos, but I was able to find some small, perfectly ripe, not at all stringy, sweet wonderful ones. I used three and yielded about 1 3/4 cups. I would have liked that extra 1/4 cup, but the bread was delicious nonetheless. 

I decided to make the bread sugar-free, so I made a few substitutions. I used 1 cup of maple syrup instead of the sugars, I upped the flour to 3 cups (from 2 1/2) and I used 1/2 cup of oil instead of 3/4 cup. I did tent my bread about half way through, as it was browning quite a bit. Also, I left out the raisins, and I would do that again, though I think some walnuts will make it into my next batch. Perhaps some coconut as well. It was a difficult hour and a half of waiting as the bread baked, as I was anxious to taste it, though it was worth every minute. It is delicious. I will definitely be making this again, though I will make a couple of changes: I really love citrus zest, and couldn't taste it at all in this bread - even though the recipe called for the zest of 1/2 a lime and I used 1 whole lime; also, I will use fresh grated ginger next time, because it wasn't gingery enough for me. I think I'll also try to make an eggless version.  I'm not a huge egg fan - I'll only eat them in things - and I've had a lot of success with eggless quick-breads.

I highly recommend this bread. 

Thanks so much to Kelly of Baking with the Boys for choosing this fantastic recipe. 

Banana Bread

I love banana bread, but surprisingly this is the first time I've ever made it! This is a very straightforward recipe, and it comes together quite easily. It isn't very sweet, which I like, though if you like your banana bread on the sweeter side you may want to add a little extra sugar (or maple syrup, as I used). I used a recipe from Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Hospodar as a reference, but I made so many changes, I'm not including the original recipe. 

Banana Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed ripe banana

1 /3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl, or bowl of stand mixer. Mix buttermilk, water, olive oil, banana and maple syrup. Pour over dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed. Pour batter in prepared pan and bake for about 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on rack for 10 minutes, then unmold and finish cooling. 

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Guinness Gingerbread

Oh, how to begin... I wasn't terribly excited to make this - cake has to be pretty exciting to win me over - but I was hoping that it would be fabulous and surprise me - after all ginger and molasses are some of my favorites. Unfortunately, it didn't. It was just very bland. 

Some of the other SMS bakers mentioned that the ginger didn't come through enough, and since love ginger, I added an additional 3/4 tsp, bringing the total to 3 tsps. I should have doubled it, or added crystalized ginger or ginger juice, or all of the above, because I couldn't taste the ginger at all. I also couldn't taste the molasses. I love molasses as well, and use a really incredible locally made variety. The flavor is wonderful and not bitter at all like some I've bought at the health food store, so perhaps that is why I couldn't taste it. 

I doubt I'll make this again, but if I do, I'll probably cut out the sugar entirely and use all molasses. 

I did enjoy the gingerbread greatly when topped with fresh whipped cream and local strawberries, though the strawberries and whipped cream alone probably would have been equally as satisfying... Ah well...

Other SMS bakers did wonderful things with ice cream and buttercream and ganache, you name it - I'm sure any of those things would have improved my experience greatly...

Thanks to the delightful Katie of Katiecakes for this week's pick. You can find the recipe on her blog. Be sure to look at the gingerbreads by all of the other SMS bakers. 

No Sweet Melissa Sundays today...

Sadly, I wasn't able to participate in today's SMS... We had a very busy weekend at a wonderful arts and music festival that we always go to. Everyone's cakes look fabulous, and are making me wish that I'd had the time... Look here to see the Icebox Cakes cooked up by the other Sweet Melissa bakers.

Asparagus Pizza

For a quick dinner a few nights ago, I pulled out a couple of balls of pizza dough I had in the freezer, thawed them, tossed them and topped them, and a few minutes later I had a heavenly pizza. This one is topped with sharp white cheddar cheese, local organic asparagus from the market, fresh grated parmesan and basil also from the market. It was amazing. I never would have thought to put asparagus on pizza until I saw it on Pinkstripes, but it is now one of my favorite toppings. Here is the link for the crust recipe.

French Pear Tart

Though not the most attractive photo - I'm always taking them at night after my kids are asleep when there is absolutely no light left - this was a delicious tart. My husband's favorite of everything I've made lately. This was another dessert that I saw on all of the TWDers blogs and thought I just had to make. Also, Dorie herself was given the opportunity to pick a recipe for the TWD bakers and this was her choice. 

Unfortunately, my pears were mealy and had lots of bad spots in them and were pretty flavorless, but the tart turned out fabulously in spite of them. There should have been more pear spokes and they should have been thicker than they are, but after cutting out all of the bad spots, there wasn't much pear left... To make up for the lack of sweetness in the pears, I sprinkled them with sugar before baking the tart. There are also instructions in the recipe for poaching the pears in a sugar syrup, but I started so late at night, I just didn't have the extra time. This step would have also remedied my pear problem. 

I seem to say this about everything I bake, but it was easy and delicious. The crust was fabulous, and the almond cream was fast to make - it is done in a food processor - and superb. 

I didn't make any changes to the recipe, however mine cooked in only 38 minutes - a full 12 minutes shorter than the low end of the baking time given. My oven doesn't run hot, so I'm not sure what the explanation for this is. I'm just glad I checked on it before my timer went off!

You can find the recipe for this wonderful tart on Dorie's blog, In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie.

French Yogurt Cake

This is one of the recipes from Baking, From My Home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan that I saw on blog after blog after blog, looking delicious every time. It was chosen as a Tuesdays with Dorie recipe in mid-March by Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction. 

I whipped this up last Sunday and it was devoured within 24 hours. It is so easy to make, and has the most divine flavor and texture. We couldn't stop eating it. 

I decided to make mine in a loaf pan, as the recipe suggests, but you can also dress it up and make it more of a fancy cake - as many TWD members did. It is supposed to have a lemon marmalade glaze on it, and I did find lemon pear marmalade - which sounded so delicious - at the health food store I shop at, but it wasn't organic, and I just couldn't buy it. We're pretty particular about buying only organic food. They had plenty of organic orange marmalades to choose from, and even a pink grapefruit one, but I love lemon, and didn't want the zest in the cake to have any competition. In the end, I left it naked. It was so moist and delicious it didn't need anything, really.

We ate most of the cake plain - cutting slices every time we walked past it, but we also tried it with fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream and that was fantastic too. Fun, simple, delicious - what more could you ask for?! Go make it! You can find the recipe here on Liliana's blog.