An Easy Thomas The Train Birthday Cake

This is a good birthday cake choice for moms out there who want to make something special for their Thomas fans but think that making a 3-D Thomas-shaped cake is a little too much work or too difficult! I knew I would be 8 months pregnant by the time my son's 2nd birthday came around, and it being near Christmas time and the Deer and Beer party also happening at the same time, it's already super busy. I searched pinterest and the internet to find a cute Thomas themed cake or cupcake idea that wasn't too elaborate or ridiculous.

I found this idea from whimsygirlscakes on cakecentral.com that is way nicer than the cake I did but I figured I could do a version of the top layer of her cake. No need to create a 3D train, I will just use one of the new trains I got my son for his birthday and have it sticking out of the tunnel. I liked her #2 and the clouds in the sky but I improvised and used a sparkly blue 2 candle and made my floating clouds out of cardstock (I found the fondant to be way too heavy to have on a springy wire like that). I cut out my clouds and hot glued them onto some silver craft wire that I had on hand, which I had wound around a pencil to make it look like a spring. This idea worked great for the clouds and sun (the sun was some clip art that I printed out). I would definitely use this homemade glued spring idea again for clouds, etc, to have springing out of the cake! It was totally easy and you can make it in advance.

I also made a cupcake train which was inspired by the super cute Thomas cupcake train from the "A Britt Without Boys" blog post. I spent a TON of time trying to get oreos or even paper circles stuck onto the foil tins to act as wheels.. it was so annoying. Nothing worked, I broke tons of cookies with jabbing the toothpicks and skewers in, etc. I tried those pinwheel chocolate marshmallow cookies, also.. it was just an epic fail. Eventually I had to give up and just throw the cupcake freight cars onto the table without wheels and honestly, I hardly notice they are missing wheels. It's pretty obvious that it's a train. I already had the large Thomas train plastic whistle, who led the cupcakes down the table. From that blog, I got the idea for those square green and blue silicon reusable cupcake holders, which definitely made the cupcakes look more freight-like. I used red velvet cake for the cupcakes and the cake, since the red/blue theme went nicely with Thomas's shiny paintwork.

For the layer cake itself, I used red velvet cake with buttercream frosting in blue which was the "sky" backdrop. I rolled fondant into balls and some black food coloring to make the rocks around the tunnel, and painted some fondant black for the tunnel itself and cut it out into a "tunnel" shape. I used gray buttercream and piped a train track around the cake board which I wrapped in black foil paper. I rolled out some white fondant and made the clouds that were attached to the cake itself. Lastly, I used green tinted buttercream with my grass tip to create the border of grass around the cake.

The day of the party, I was totally frazzled as I waited until that day to make all the food and didn't even get a chance to drop the kiddo off at school so it was exhausting and I didn't get a chance to decorate everything and do everything I wanted. Those picture-perfect pinterest people.. really get on my nerves. They must have unlimited time or help and fabulous natural lighting all the time.

There are tons of great Thomas ideas online for decorations, treats, favors, and more. I am very proud of my invites which I saw an idea online and designed them myself in photoshop and printed them off on cardstock and mailed them to the invitees. I used a hole puncher to punch out "Dec" and "11" to simulate a real train ticket. Super cute!

I made Martha Stewart's chicken tenders (made with rice krispies, yummy!) for the kids and Giada's sausage stuffed manicotti for everyone else (which was a little too time intensive) and that all turned out OK. Add in some salad and some garlic bread, fruit, treats, and the cake, and you have plenty for a party. I didn't take a picture but I had another train set up on the counter which was hauling some foil tins of snacks - caramel corn, veggies/dip, salty snacks, etc. Walmart had the table cloths, blue and red streamers and balloons and blue paper bags which I filled with goodies for the party-goers.

Everything went great until the very last second when my 2 year old touched the candle and burnt his finger bad enough to get a blister. It happened so fast, I was surprised it got so burnt. He still takes about "finger, candle, hot, boo boo" even 4 months later... guess you have to learn some time. I felt really bad about that! Otherwise, the Thomas-themed party went great.

Salsa, Salsa, and More Salsa

Today is still kind of chilly and everyone here is ready for Spring/Summer to move right in. Think Spring! Today, I'm going through some older photos that I didn't get a chance to blog about and here is something to get us in the mood for the summer - a summer salsa garden!

We built a raised garden bed last summer in order to grow a salsa garden. The Husband went out of control with the number of pepper and tomato plants that he bought. They took over our deck all summer, as there was not enough room in the garden itself. The Neighborhood Groundhogs were quite a hassle but eventually we were able to keep them out and get some roma tomatoes and peppers growing, among many other plants.

We also went to the farmer's market and bought additional romas and a few days in the late summer/early fall, we spent an afternoon making salsas. We love fresh salsa so we made a large batch of that and we also wanted to try a canned salsa for the first time.

For the fresh salsa, it's pretty simple, just a lot of chopping!

Homemade Fresh Salsa Recipe

Dice up your roma tomatoes (these are best as they have less juice than regular tomatoes) and mix with chopped onions, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Adjust amounts to your taste preferences.

Blend some of the tomato mixture along with however many hot peppers you want and then add the hot mixture back into the batch of salsa. Adjust seasoning and hotness to your taste level.

We made several levels of hotness - Mild, Medium, Hot, and Chris. The Chris salsa is the hottest. (Chris is one of The Husband's best friends).

For the first canned salsa recipe I tried, it was quite time intensive, and it was an "easy" recipe which included using some canned tomato paste as well. You have to peel the tomatoes which takes a ton of time, and then chop them on top of it. I didn't care for the recipe flavor much so I will be trying another one next year, but the canning worked out great and the boys and family members loved it. I used it all up many months later as a sauce for enchilada pie so it did not go to waste at all, it was pretty good.. I just didn't like the vinegar/sugar ratio that I had in it.

Making your own salsa is fun and there are tons of recipes out there. You don't have to wait until tomato season to do it, either - there are roma tomatoes around most of the year, I think. It's nice to wait until the August/September time frame, though, and if you don't grow your own tomatoes, they will surely be plentiful in the stores and farmer's markets in your area! We are moving this summer so alas, the raised garden bed will be left for the next home owners. Maybe they will grow something fun, also!

Sugar Free Flour-less Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

My dad does a great job of avoiding sugar and flour for the most part and this is a great way to eat to control your weight and increase your overall health. It can be tricky cooking and baking for people with this type of a diet restriction but it doesn't mean everything has to be bland and a salad. For my dad's recent birthday, I wanted to try something new but hopefully tasty. I came across a flourless peanut butter cookie recipe - it only uses peanut butter, sugar and an egg, and some one in the comments said they successfully used splenda. I also know how to easily make a no-bake cheesecake and my dad loves chocolate, so I thought why not try and put these two things together to make a yummy dessert?

It worked out great! I mixed up the peanut butter with splenda and the egg and mashed into the bottom of a springform pan - depending on the size of the pan you use, you might want to double the batch of dough. I used a small pan, 8" and made sure I had enough dough to go up the sides quite a bit so that it would look nice.
I popped it in a 350 degree oven and baked until set and slightly browning on the edges, around 15 minutes.

Then, with softened cream cheese, one container of sugar free CoolWhip (my dad loves CoolWhip and homemade whipped cream would not hold up over time), several tablespoons of cocoa and enough splenda to sweeten the deal. Some vanilla and chopped sugar-free chocolates or other candies would be a good mix-in to add into the center of this cheesecake - or how about some toasted nuts? There are many possibilities!

I think I chopped up some sugar free chocolates and mixed them in and also melted some to add to the cocoa chocolate flavor, but I can't quite remember.

After pouring the cheesecake filling into the cooled pre-baked peanut butter cookie shell, just pop into the fridge to set up for a few hours or overnight - if you can keep your hands off of it for that long! I used a canister of whipped cream to decorate the top, also. Some chocolate drizzles or nuts would also be a nice touch, or berries if you think that might go with peanut butter. I'm not sure!

I think a pinch of cinnamon might be nice for the crust, also.

Sugar Free Flour-Less Peanut Butter Crust with Sugar Free No Bake Chocolate Cheesecake


For the Crust:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar (I used splenda as a sugar free substitute)
1 whole egg

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix up in your mixer and spread evenly into a springform cake pan - size of your choice. If this is not enough dough for your size pan, make another batch. A pinch of cinnamon might be a nice touch.

Bake in the oven until slightly browned on the edges and set, about 15 minutes or so, depending on how thick you've made the crust.

Let cool thoroughly.

For the Cheesecake:
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 small carton (1.5 cups) of sugar free cool whip
vanilla
several tablespoons of cocoa powder - make it as chocolately as you'd like!
splenda - 8 tablespoons or enough to sweeten the mixture to your taste

Add Ins and Toppings:
Toasted nuts, chopped sugar free chocolates, sugar free chocolate sauce, melted sugar free chocolates swirled in, more peanut butter, vanilla, almond extract, etc

Thoroughly mix the cream cheese with the cool whip, cocoa, splenda, vanilla, and any of the other add-ins that you'd like to use. Pour into the prepared crust and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Top with toppings and decorations of your choice, serve, and enjoy!

My dad really liked this treat and I hope you will too! I thought it was pretty good considering no sugar and no flour. Yum!

Random Desserts of 2012

It seems whenever I'm pregnant, I slow down on blogging. Much of it is due to morning sickness but then that wears off and I have no exact excuse. Everyone is pretty busy and I do try to take pictures of things to blog about later, but seem to always be behind. Now that some Pecan Bars in are in the works and the kiddo is sleeping and The Husband is out, I have some me time, so I have decided to use it on blogging. Looking back through my pictures this year, I can see a bunch of desserts I've made and I vaguely remember what recipe they were, so I think it is best to just call this post "Random Desserts of 2012."

First on my list was a classroom treat for Valentine's day for the kiddo. Look at what a cute Valentine's day card he made The Husband and myself? Okay so maybe I helped him out a little bit... ?

Sure, the kiddo is only 1 and doesn't know what's going on with V-day but I felt he deserved some tasty cut out heart jam sandwich cookies for his Valentine's day classroom party. Unfortunately, I did not save what recipe I used for this but I know for a fact I used a recipe with no nuts, just because it was for school. I remember it only called for a few ingredients, flour, salt, butter, etc.

 I used raspberry jam for the filling, dusted the tops with powdered sugar, and I had some leftover pink buttercream from something - maybe Maria's cake? I used that as a filling on a few cookies as well. Rolling out and cutting cookies takes time but it was fun and the cookies were enjoyed by all.

Next on my random list of desserts, ah yes - some kind of random apple / pie crust recipe I saw on pinterest. You know how pinterest goes, the caption always says "easiest and best tasting recipe EVER!! OMG!!! you won't believe it!!!" and as it turns out, apples with store bought pie crust and some sugar and cinnamon taste like... apples with crust and sugar and cinnamon. This was OK but no 4 star dessert or anything. I like Pinterest and all, but it's basically a showcase of "good photography".. if you can take a good picture in good lighting, then it will be popular on Pinterest whether or not it is a good idea or tasty or not.

Okay, moving on, let's see what is next in my camera queue. Ah - yes - what can only be my favorite banana bread recipe, but this time with a glaze. Actually, there is a chance it is some other kind of spice bread but I'm pretty sure it's spiced banana bread. See top photo of post also - I made a bundt cake to welcome little Shiloh home and give her mom a belated present (a cake holder/tote) and I knew Shiloh loved spice and bananas. I made the loaf above for The Husband and I, because, you can't just make this bread and give it all away - you must have some for yourself!

Okay, let's keep moving because we are only up through March 10th! Ah yes, there was some other kind of party at "school" for the kiddo so I was happy to sign up to make a treat. I wanted it to use some kid-friendly ingredients like applesauce and apples and came across a Dorie Greenspan recipe that was popular on other blogs and decided to give her Applesauce Spice Bars a go. They were totally delicious and I will have to put her cookbook on my wish list!

They were hard to get a "clean cut" on but I cut them into bite sized 1-year old treat pieces and I heard that the class loved them. I'd definitely make these again, especially in the fall time. I had totally forgotten what recipe this was and was recently looking through my pictures and thought "oh yeah those were so good, what recipe was that????" and I'm so happy I finally remembered it was Dorie's.

Okay, what's next? Brookies! Apparently I finally made these cookie bars in April. I had heard about them from Martha Stewart's show, which I don't watch but my mom does, and I thought - what's not to like? A brookie is a brownie/chocolate chip cookie combo. I think on Martha, they had brownies inside chocolate chip cookies, however I did the easy bar-cookie style and I'm 99% sure I used a ghiradelli brownie box mix for the bottom, pressed it in, and then made the Tollhouse cookie recipe for the top layer and pressed that on top for a 9x13. I remember reading this blog, for the recipe but I certainly did not "drop cookie dough by spoonfuls" so maybe I found another method somewhere else or just winged it. Anyhoo, I feel really bad about this but I can't remember the reason for making them. I feel like there must have been an event or place that I took them --- let me know if anyone thinks these look familiar! It was around Easter time. Oh - one more thing - I also like to call them "Crownies" just for fun.

Next, I have lots of pictures of The Husband's birthday cake that he brought into work. I made the mistake years ago by showing him a photo of this law book cake that some one else had done, and he said "why don't I get a cake like that???" and so I thought this year he should finally have it. I spend hours and hours and hours on cakes for other people and some years he does not even get one from me, with it being around Easter and lent or being sick or this or that. Anyhow, this cake deserves a whole blog post in itself to go through all the details, so that's all I will say for now.

Next, I will mention these since they do count, but only briefly because I actually blogged about my mango desserts I made during "mango season."

We had a mango crisp and also this fantastically delicious recipe from Dorie Greenspan for mango bread. I made it 2 or 3 times and gave some loaves away, it was so delicious and moist.

Next in my camera stream is.. another mystery dessert. This looks like a crumble topped pie with fruit in it - I am guessing strawberry rhubarb? I can vaguely remember that I knew The Husband liked these pies and since I had never made one before, perhaps it was time. It looks a little soupy but I'm sure it did not go to waste. The Husband just took a peek at the photo and he agrees that he assumes it was strawberry rhubarb. I can tell you I used a store bought crust because I suck at homemade pie crusts, and I don't know what recipe I used for the filling. If I recall correctly, it was good but it's a little tangy with that tart rhubarb. I'm more of an all-sweet person I think.

We're finally to June - perhaps I have been baking more that I thought. I was thinking "I hardly bake anymore" ... perhaps, the truth is I hardly blog anymore but the cooking and baking continues! This dessert is easy to remember - it was to celebrate the homecoming of my sister-in-law and her family from having lived in London for two years. We had a homecoming party with The Husband's family and it was a great celebration. Minus that whole morning sickness thing I was experiencing!

I used Ina's flag cake recipe except I opted out of cream cheese frosting and just used regular buttercream frosting, so The Husband would eat some. I made a special effort to look up how many grams are in each cup of flour since Ina did not use weights for her cake recipe and I measured everything exactly. I felt the cake was flat and dense and not what I wanted at all, I would have just preferred some cake boxes personally, so - I'd not use that recipe again. I can make cakes from scratch and I know when they work and taste good, just so you know.

Next, a delicious chilled dessert - another ice cream cake! This one was for my mother-in-law's birthday which we were celebrating at our house. I didn't have time (or the energy with morning sickness) for a more elaborate cake and The Husband was excited for an ice cream cake so I went with that idea. It's a tasty option for a quick dessert that you don't have to travel with, perfect for summer. This time I wanted to try something different so I baked a disc of brownies in the cake pan prior to assembly. I think I used a 10in cake pan. I lined the floor of the pan in oreos, put a layer of french vanilla Hudsonville ice cream, then the brownie disc, then I believe some Sanders hot fudge, and then more vanilla ice cream. I used cool whip to decorate and "frost" the cake and popped it in the freezer. It's best if you freeze ice cream cakes overnight, then they are solid as rocks and don't squish apart when you try to cut them into slices. Serve with more Sanders hot fudge! I also put maraschino cherries on top for some color and for the kiddos.

Next, we fast forward to August because apparently there was no baking in July. We were traveling a lot so that makes sense. My nephew Liam's 1st birthday celebration was a great party and the theme was dinosaurs so I was happy to be able to make a dino themed cake. I found an example online that was reasonably do-able and I am pleased with the results. I used fondant for the dinosaur and balloon and letters,   which were cut out with my new letter cutters.

The letter cutters took more time than I expected, I finally figured out using cornstarch between each letter on the cutter was key for keeping the fondant from sticking inside the cutter. It was not a time saver but at least the finished product looks a lot better than my hand writing!

A few weeks later in August, we had the marriage of our dear friends Sal and Rog! I was very excited to be able to participate by making some mini cupcakes for their wedding celebration in Chicago. We stayed with some friends and I baked all the mini cupcakes and made the frostings  and decorations ahead of time and everything made the trip OK. Then the morning of the wedding I began decorating and decorating for several hours. It went by pretty fast and then we had about an hour drive out to the reception location. I packaged them in some cake boxes I bought and only a few rolled around so it went OK, next time I would try to pack in even more to make it a tighter fit, as the papers were not good spacers like I thought they would be. When we got to the reception hall I was expecting the other lady with the other half of mini cupcakes to be there and setting up but there was nothing. I didn't know if there was a particular design or not but all I knew was there would not be enough space on the plates for the cupcakes!

Eventually the reception was about to begin and no sign of the other lady so I began setting up the cupcakes with the help of The Husband. I found the other lady's cupcakes.. full size ones and not the right flavors.... not the proper decorating style....strange... in the cooler in the back and I tried to put some of those out, also. Anyhow, the normal sized cupcakes are not mine but I think the display turned out pretty good. The Husband did the left side and I did the right side!

The flavors were exactly what Sal ordered - yellow cupcake with regular white vanilla/almond buttercream which I made a yellow double fondant yellow flower for, chocolate chip chocolate cupcakes with delicious chocolate buttercream on top, which received the cut out white fondant hearts with green sanding sugar on top, and finally the german chocolate mocha cupcakes with browned butter salted caramel buttercream with a chocolate covered espresso bean on top (I purchased those from Caribou coffee). This was pretty fun and a great event, we were happy to celebrate with Rog and Sal!

Next, the kiddo and I had an impromptu evening out at an outdoor Beatles cover band concert with our dear friends Andrea and Jan and their little kiddo. I had really wanted to try a cookie recipe that I saw on an episode of the Pioneer Woman - a fabulous food blogger who got her own show on Food Network! I did not have milk chocolate chips but I think otherwise I followed her recipe pretty closely. Unfortunately I could not taste the malt and I love malted desserts, but these were delicious chocolate chip cookies nonetheless. I'll have to find another recipe where there's more of a malted milk flavor - perhaps adding malted milk balls or maybe the milk chocolate vs semi sweet makes the difference. I brought these cookies to the outdoor concert to share with my friends, which was good that I didn't get stuck at home with the whole tray to myself!

The next dessert brings us up through early September for my mom's birthday. I thought I would try to make a special lemon flavored cake with the special bakery-style frosting that she likes (though she likes the American super sweet kind also). She asked all week what cake she was getting for her birthday and also her typical "well don't make me anything, just buy me a nice cake from the bakery" blah blah and then the typical "oh you don't have to come over for my birthday, I don't need anything for my birthday, we don't have to celebrate at all" kind of thing that moms do but they truly don't mean it. So I kept the homemade cake a surprise upon our arrival.

I have used Rose Levy Beranbaum's Mousseline whipped icing before but I wanted to try Sweetapolita's Swiss Meringue Buttercream this time. I spent hours trying to get this recipe to work. I know how to whip eggwhites but these ones would just not come to stiff peaks. I had a clean bowl and cold eggwhites and proper sugar syrup and I don't know what happened. I ended up giving up and just adding the butter anyway and lo and behold, it still came together in the icing. Too bad I waited hours and stayed up until midnight trying to get the eggwhites right, since it apparently didn't matter. I am wondering if my kitchenaid is not up to par anymore, even since we used the meat grinder attachment and it fizzled on me. I added a lemon pudding mix into the cake batter and it was not overly lemony. I was exhausted but managed to make some cut out fondant flowers for decorations. When I decorated the cake the next day, I had trouble getting the handwriting right so don't judge me on the redone and redone again "h" for Happy Birthday. I should have just left the first one on there.

I'm still looking for the light and airy buttercream recipe that bakeries use - these two seem to be heavy on the butter flavor and not quite the right one, though they seem like the obvious choices. Anyhow, when I showed up at my mom's I hid the fact that we had gifts and cake so that it could be a surprise and she looked around and said "oh I see you didn't bring anything for my birthday" and then was in a real bad mood the whole day. She was not very thankful for the cake when she did see it, and told me I should have just bought one. So maybe next time I will, but from Meijer or Kroger. That's two times in a row she has had a real bad attitude after I did a whole bunch of work to pull off a nice birthday cake. There's no pleasing some people.

Next, our first fall dessert installation. Our dear friends Diana and Tim were having a fall party so I was happy to bring a few desserts. I decided on pumpkin cupcakes (a delicious Martha Stewart Recipe) and what's pretty much the best buttercream frosting recipe ever, caramel brown butter buttercream. Some candy corn made for an easy but festive decoration and I made a double batch so I had some extras for work. These turned out delicious and I would not hesitate to make a whole cake like this and slather that frosting on.

I could not stop with one dessert so I made a large batch of these babies that I've been eyeing in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook - Mini Oreo Cheesecakes. They were pretty easy but the only thing is they need to be chilled so it's not a great "leave it out at a party all day" dessert. I still got this recipe in my head and had to make them. These are best when eaten within the next day or two, by day 3 they get a little soggy of course. They were still tasty.

 In the bottom of each cupcake liner, a whole oreo was placed which posed as the "crust" and when you peeled the paper off, the cheesecakes held up very nicely and they were not messy to eat at all.

Lastly, that brings us up to what I popped into the oven when I started this post - some pecan bars for a work group lunch. Some days have passed since I started this post and I had made a double batch, and not a single pecan bar went to waste. I have made this Martha Stewart recipe before  (so this is an old photo) but this is a delicious fall recipe

Well it is mid-October so there's plenty of time for more baking this year, especially with the holidays coming up! Maybe I will get back to single posts on each recipe but for now I am glad to at least have these items represented and recipes logged before I forget any further. Hope you enjoyed!

Homemade Pesto - Totally Worth It

I've wanted to try making homemade pesto for a while and finally decided to just do it, as Nike would say.

I found a simple recipe that seemed to have all the right ingredients and literally gave it a whirl... in my food processor. I bought all the ingredients at Nino's - some fresh basil leaves, pine nuts and parmesan/romano cheese (didn't see the pecorino specifically).

This was simple and delicious and puts all those jars of pesto I've purchased at the store to shame. I don't think I can eat those anymore. This made extra so that I could use it for 4 or 5 meals and the pesto can be used to brighten up so many dishes.

I used it for pasta and shrimp, then also for a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, more pesto pasta with chicken, and also for an awesome sandwich for The Husband and friend to go fishing with. Check out this recipe and try it if you love pesto! It's easy and fantastic.

Homemade Basil Pesto

As seen here on foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese (see Cook's Note)

Directions
Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

** I didn't use it immediately OR freeze it and it's still tasting fresh. It's been in my fridge for a few weeks and didn't even get dark and discolored or anything like that.

Mango Mania

We recently took a trip to the British Virgin Islands where we were expecting an embarrassment of mangoes. We were surprised that it was a pretty arid climate and it took the whole week for our $4 a piece mangoes to ripen and we hardly saw any ripe fruit anywhere - maybe it was the wrong time of year?

Anyway, once we returned it was clearly "mango season" in Michigan (not that they are grown here.. because they so aren't...) and all the stores had piles of mangoes for 0.75 cents or $1.00 and I may have gone overboard. I definitely bought 4 one day, maybe another half dozen the next, and then I just flat out bought a case of mangoes a day or two later.

Needless to say, I am now sick of mangoes. But - it was a fun experience and let me share with you everything we made and enjoyed with this spicy, sweet and slippery fruit.

Besides just eating mangoes plain as an evening sweet snack, the first thing I made was a mango lassi. That's a classic and I already posted a great recipe which features a secret ingredient I love to add in a lassi - cardamon. Check out the recipe here. Well I guess it is not secret and I definitely saw it on some other website, but cardamon really makes a great difference.

 

Next I thought I needed to make some kind of dessert - I decided on a mango berry crumble. This was quite tasty. I threw in a few raspberries that I had laying around which added a nice counterpart and rose color to the otherwise mushy sweet mango layer. I used better-for-bread flour for the topping so it was not exactly as I was expecting but still good and we ate it all. I just made a strawberry rhubarb pie and the topping to that was faaaaaaar better. I can't find the recipe but you aren't missing on anything anyway, the topping was just "OK."

Lastly and my very favorite mango recipe - I made two loaves of Dorie Greenspan's fresh mango bread. This used up my last 3 or 4 mangoes and I had a feeling I'd love it so I made two parallel batches at once. I even brought some into work and gave some bread away to our friends. I have to say this might be better than even the best zucchini bread or banana bread, it was awesome! I'd definitely make this again or even try different fruits in here. The bread mixture itself is very moist and I love the amount of spices and the crispy caramelized top that you get. Dorie's loaf pans must be much bigger than mine, I had some overflow but luckily she had recommended a pan underneath. I was happy to just eat what overflowed though, so it was a bonus. Next time I'd fill my pan up to 3/4 the way and pour the rest into cupcake pans. Or I almost like the crispy top the best so maybe I could spread it out and make one giant crispy top. Is that even possible? If so, that would be awesome. I'm DEFINITELY making this recipe again. I'm almost un-sick of mangoes just thinking of it... so probably sooner than later! I think this is a nice gift bread, if you want to bake something nice for new parents or a neighbor, it's a different spin on a quick bread but I can't imagine anyone not liking it. It's so much more flavorful and interesting and moist than zucchini bread.. which I love also. I will have to try more Dorie recipes!

Fresh Mango Bread

By Dorie Greenspan as seen on The Tummy Train blog, here. 

From Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours, page 45
Makes one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf



3 large eggs

3/4 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower oil

2 1/2 cups (13.5 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 packed cup light brown sugar

2 cups diced mango (from 1 large or 2 1/2 medium peeled and pitted mangoes)

3/4 cup moist, plump golden raisins

Grated zest of 1/2 a lime



1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess, making sure every part of the pan is covered. 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 over-baking).

2. Begin by dicing the mangoes. Set aside.

3. Whisk the eggs and oil together.

4. 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.


5. 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.

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


7. 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). Transfer the pan to a rack and cool 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.




Serving: As good as this bread is freshly baked, Dorie feels it is 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.



Storing: Wrapped in plastic, the cake will keep for about 4 days at room temperature.