Mango loaf

During my visit back home, I managed to meet up with three friends who I only know through food blogs and facebook. We've commented on posts, 'liked' stuff on fb, but never really met. I met Geetha of Fragrant kitchen, who is a super creative baker and makes some amazing cake decorations, Suma of Cakes and More, who would love to bake every single day if she could and SJ of Masala Vade, who is seriously super fun !



It felt a little strange at first, since all I knew about them was through their blogs or fb updates. I knew that food always helps to bond better and it turned out to be so wonderful meeting all of them
I met Geetha at her place and she was busy decorating fondant animals for a little girl's birthday. Had a nice time chatting away with some tea and chocolate muffins loaded with nuts
Met Suma at Coffee Day and chatted away for hours, discussing baking, blogging, kids, family,...everything. She gifted me a bunch of vanilla beans that she had got from Kerala
SJ invited my son and me for lunch and had a huge spread ready. The kids played and we chatted away. Had a really great time...

Over the weekend, SJ asked me if I would be able to bake Dorie Greenspan's fresh mango bread, and I was more than willing. I tried my best to follow the recipe, but along the way, I made my own substitutions, and fortunately, landed up with one moist mango-ey loaf !



Here's a slice for you...

Mango Loaf
See original recipe here

What you need -

2 cups chopped mangoes (I used 2 badami mangoes)
2 eggs
1/2 cup mango puree (I used the kesar variety)
3/4 cup oil (I used safflower)
2 cups APF / maida
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp zest of lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins

What you do with it -

In a deep bowl, mix the flour, sugars, baking powder and baking soda, clove powder, cinnamon powder and salt
Whisk the eggs, oil and mango puree, till it all comes together. You can skip the mango puree. I had it on hand and it made the loaf more moist
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix till it blends well. In this recipe here, she mentioned that the batter will be more like dough, which it was, but the puree helped in bringing it all together
Add in the mango pieces, raisins and zest

Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Leave a little extra paper coming out from the pan on all sides. Grease the paper, dust it with flour and pour the batter into it. I have tried this the last few times I baked bread in the loaf tin. It helps to keep the shape intact when you take the loaf out and also keep the loaf pan pretty clean
Allow to bake for about 80 mins or till done. I use the convection mode of my microwave to bake, so timing may vary with a regular oven. If the loaf starts to brown too much, cover with foil halfway thru the baking time
Allow it to cool for 5 minutes, then pull up the loaf using the edges of the parchment paper
Cut the loaf once its cooled to room temperature
Works great for breakfast with a cup of hot tea