TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie selection was Fresh Mango Bread. I like mangoes; in fact, I have even been addressed as Mango. I suppose you could easily mistake “Margo” for “Mango” when you are looking at an email message. I go by “Margo” rather than “Margot” (my given name) much of the time, since it’s the phonetic pronunciation and easier for people. Seriously, by first grade I was already tremendously frustrated with having to constantly tell people – including teachers – that my name is not “Mar-got” (as in “you got it wrong”) I was totally jealous of all the Jennifers and Sarahs and Emilys. Mr. Penpen did not know the official spelling of my name until our fifth date when Michael Chabon was signing copies of the Yiddish Policemen’s Union for us, and he asked if Margot was spelled with a “t.” When Mr. Penpen replied, “No” and I replied “sure,” Michael Chabon (BTW: his wife also has “difficult” name) thought he might have started a fight since my boyfriend didn’t know how to spell my name. Mr. Penpen writes my name as Margot now, which I like, but I will respond to either. Just don’t call me “Mar-got.”

Okay, mango bread time! I can’t say I’d ever seen a recipe that involved both cinnamon and lime zest; they do not seem like natural companions to me, so I was a little wary of this bread. By the time I finally got around to making the bread, I was too tired to think of any alternative spice combinations, so I just went for it. I did omit the raisins, and added dried cherries and macadamia nuts instead. I enjoy raisins in a very limited number of desserts, like oatmeal raisin cookies, so if there is a suitable substitution, I will generally use it. I decided that instead of making bread, I would use my long-neglected mini muffin tins. This proved to be a very sensible decision, since my bread went into the oven at 10:10 on Monday night and the recipe said the loaf was to bake for an hour and forty-five minutes. The mini muffins only took twenty minutes. And made tons: I got twenty-four, from a half recipe, last night and still have batter in the refrigerator.

I ended up liking the muffins more than I thought I would, but enjoyed the leftover mango with yogurt for breakfast even more, which is certainly a good thing. I gave this recipe a 7.5 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort (it would have been a 2, but it took me a while to slice small mango bits), giving it an EDR of 3. Many thanks to Kelly of Baking with the Boys for choosing this yummy bread and reminding me how much I like mangoes. You may find the recipe on Kelly’s site and check out what the other bakers thought via the TWD blogroll. And there's still one more hour of Tuesday!