Fresh Mango Bread

This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours", which is one of my favourite baking books. Her tone is conversational, her instructions are clear and invite a lot of play with the recipes, and she advocates chocolate in many forms for breakfast. Really, what's not to love?

I made this loaf yesterday in an attempt to cheer myself up with after non-success that was the attempted roasted beet and balsamic bread from last Friday. I am happy to say, this loaf turned out beautifully. The chunks of mango seem to melt into the dough while everything bakes, leaving a subtle flavour and exceptional moistness. I may revisit the beet bread yet, just need to think through a few things... In the meantime, make this one. It's fantastic. Be sure to have your mango diced before you combine the dry and wet ingredients to get the best lift out of your baking powders.

Fresh Mango Bread
(p. 45)

Yields 1 loaf

3 large eggs
3/4 cup flavourless oil, such as canola or safflower
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 cups diced mango (from 1 large, peeled and pitted mango)
3/4 cup moist, plump golden raisins
Grated zest of 1/2 lime

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350F. Butter and flour the inside of a loaf pan (8 1/2 - x - 4 1/2 is what Dorie has listed) and tap out the remaining flour. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or two regular baking sheets stacked on top of each other - this will help keep the bottom of the bread from over baking (I didn't find this to be an issue).

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the eggs and oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients except for the brown sugar. Once the dry ingredients have been well combined, rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, and then stir it in. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine them - the batter will be very thick and almost unwieldily - keep going, it will come together after a moment or so. Add the mango, raisins, and zest and stir to combine. The addition of the moisture from the mango will help loosen the batter considerably. Scrape everything into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. If the top of the loaf is browning too fast, cover it loosely with a piece of foil and continue the baking (I did have to do this). Once the baking is finished, transfer the loaf to a rack and let it cool for 5 minutes before unmolding the loaf from the pan. Let it cool right side up on a rack before slicing. Slicing it while it is hot will make it fall apart.

When it is cool, slice and serve. The bread is actually slightly better the next day as the fruit and spice flavours have had a chance to intensify a bit.