Fresh Mango and Ginger Tea Bread / Cake

Mango is the favourite fruit in my family. I am always very excited when the first tray of mangoes arrive on the shelves of our local fresh fruits market.

I have always wanted to make this fresh mango bread since the day my "Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours" cookbook arrived at my door step a few months ago. I had to wait as it was winter in Sydney and it wasn't the mango season.

Wait no more. Mangoes have finally arrived in Sydney and here we go, the fresh mango bread:

Dorie Greenspan: "This is a tweaked version of a recipe given to me by my mother's neighbour, Florence Earl. Mrs Earl, who lives in Florida, made this with mangoes that grew in her yard, but since fresh mangoes are now readily available in markets across the country, even those of us not lucky enough to be able to shake them off a nearby tree can make it quickly and easily.

Mango breads, which are popular in the South, meet the definition of quick breads, but they're really more like loaf cakes than breads. Certainly that's the case with this 'bread', which is soft, moist, spiced and abundant with mango and raisins. Mrs. Earl's recipe included chopped nuts, which I omitted. The ginger and lime zest are among my other tweaks."


Fresh Mango and Ginger Tea Bread / Cake Recipe
(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My home To Yours)
Makes 12 Servings

Ingredients

3 large eggs
3/4 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 cup diced mango (from 1 large peeled and pitted mango)
3/4 cup moist, plump golden raisins (Note: Little Miss C doesn't like raisins. I have omitted the raisins and replaced them with an extra mango)
Grated zest of 1/2 lime

Method:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Butter an 8 1/2 x 4/12 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from overbaking.)
2. Whisk the eggs and oil together.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended - the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together.

   

4. Stir in the mango, raisins and zest. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

   

5. Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. (If the bread looks as if it's getting too brown as it bakes, cover it loosely with a foil tent.)

   

6. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.
7. Serving: As good as this bread is freshly baked, it's even better the next day. One day spent wrapped in plastic seems to intensify the fruit and spice flavors. Of course, if you can't wait, don't Just cut the loaf into thick slices and serve with tea, hot or iced, or coffee.
8. Storing: Wrapped in plastic, the cake will keep for about 4 days at room temperature.