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Monday, March 26, 2018

Papaya Muffins - #MuffinMonday


If my father could see me now... Papaya (we actually call it pawpaw here) was his favourite fruit. I hated it. I could barely get past the smell of it much less the taste. I found out yesterday that my mother also disliked it. She did, however, find a variety that was tolerable. We refer to those as the "agricultural" pawpaws. That's a definition for another time. They are indeed better. The smell and taste are bearable and I'll take a few bites now and then but pawpaws will never become a favourite. Why struggle with pawpaws when there are mangoes and star apples and naseberries and sugar cane (not a fruit but still way better than pawpaws) and otaheite apples and sweetsop... you get the point. 

So how did pawpaw end up in my muffins? One day last week, pawpaws just kept showing up in my day. The lady who sells fruits where I work had quite a few when I got in that morning. I immediately wondered how they'd fare in a muffin. Later, someone in class started talking about them. Then when I got home, three large ones were sitting on the counter. Definitely muffin time. (Side note: I just checked my calendar and the day this was happening was March 20th. My father's birthday. OK, universe. I listened.) Just to be on the safe side, I added coconut. Everything is better with coconut. The pawpaw flavour isn't strong and I think it would take most persons a while to guess that they are eating a pawpaw. That then makes it perfect for me. I had to eat the extra pawpaw puree and hit my yearly pawpaw limit right then and there.

Papaya Muffins
Yield: 12

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
1 cup papaya puree (you can leave it a bit chunky)
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F and line or grease or cupcake pan.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the coconut. Add the papaya puree, egg, oil, vanilla, and milk. Gently stir together until just combined. 
Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. 





Muffin Monday



#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Barbecue Cheesy Bread - Crazy Ingredient Challenge



I'm struggling with the name of this bread that I baked for this month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge. It's supposed to be an easy month - barbecue sauce and buttermilk. I decided on what I wanted to make almost immediately. However, it was not until I sat down to write this post that I realised that I did not have a name for it.

I adapted this from King Arthur's Pane Bianco. It's bread stuffed with cheese, sundried tomatoes, garlic, and basil. I can't get sundried tomatoes here and ran out of time to make some oven dried ones. Getting basil in my parish is also not the easiest thing and I wasn't able to source some. So all I was left with from the original recipe was the dough with buttermilk instead of plain milk, garlic, and cheese. I added some barbecue sauce, and used thyme and scallion (which are in abundance here).

Barbecue Cheesy Bread 

Ingredients
Dough 
360 grams bread flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 egg
113 ml buttermilk
up to 74 ml water (see note)
44 ml of oil

Filling 
3/4 cup barbecue sauce (I used a spicy one)
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup chopped herbs

Directions

Knead all the ingredients for the dough EXCEPT water. Add water as needed to make a soft dough that sticks a bit to the bottom of the bowl. Cover  the dough and allow to rise until doubled.

When the dough has doubled, roll it out to approximately 13" x 17". Brush evenly with barbecue sauce. Sprinkle with garlic, cheese, and herbs. Starting at a long side, roll up into a log and place the log on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Starting half an inch from one end, use kitchen shears to cut about an inch deep into the log. Stop half an inch from the other end. Shape the dough into an S. Tuck the ends under to form a figure 9. Cover and allow to rise until doubled.

When the dough is almost ready, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. If the dough is browning too quickly, tent with foil.

Notes
  • I used about 60 ml of water and found that was a bit too much and my dough was too sticky. The amount that you use will depend on lot on your weather (it's hot and humid here) and the brand/type of flour.






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