Mango Challah - #BreadBakers

It does not get much better than mango season in Jamaica. There are mangoes EVERYWHERE. We have songs that dictate that no one cooks during mango season. We all become fruitarians consuming an unconscionable amount of mangoes each day. One day last week there were over 3 dozen mangoes in the kitchen. Friends just kept sending mangoes. We also had mangoes from one of our trees. We had to quickly slice and freeze most of the fruit for fear that they would spoil before we were able to eat them all. Some days we do try to eat them all. I am ashamed to tell you just how many I ate yesterday. Let's just say that I did not feel well at all.

One of our trees competing for sunlight.

Right now, there are several dozens of unwanted mangoes under one of the trees. The tree bears what we call the "common mango". It's a perfectly delicious variety. But we tend to favour other varieties over it. It's just too "common", I guess. That is, however, until the other varieties aren't in season and then we must resort to the common mango.Yesterday, I placed 30 of the mangoes by the roadside, hoping that someone would pass by and take them. No takers, the last time I checked. I get it though - there's a much more delicious variety just a few feet away. They would be much more interested if that tree were not bearing. Later today I will have to pick more up and send them off to pig farmers to serve as feed. Sad, I know. But we can't keep up with the dozens of mangoes it yields each day. Oh to have that problem with an East Indian mango tree.

Years ago, we actually only had common mangoes at our house. I certainly did not turn my nose up at them then. However, the trees were budded (grafted) and new varieties were introduced. Why waste time with the common mango when there is Haden, East Indian, and Julie (St Julian) to consume?

For this mango challah, I did not use the common mango. It's very stringy and just would not be as pleasurable. I went with the Haden. Julie would have been great too. I really love the flavour of that
one.

Haden Mangoes

For this month's Bread Bakers, our host is Mireille of The Schizo Chef. Thanks, Mireille for an awesome theme. Be sure to scroll down to see how the other Bread Bakers used stone fruits this month!

Mango Challah 

Ingredients 

1 recipe of Maggie Glezer's Chernowitzer Challah

2 cups of mango, diced (mangoes should be ripe but firm.)

1 egg + 1 teaspoon of water, for egg wash

Directions 

Make the dough following Maggie Glezer's directions. 

After the first rise, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece out to a approximately 12" x 5". Fill each piece evenly with diced mango. Put the mango down the center of the dough - avoid the edges.  If mango is particularly juicy, allow to drain before using as filling. 

Roll each piece into a tight log, stretching the logs to about 18 inches. Braid the logs. 

Place the braid on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let sit until doubled. 

Before the braid has doubled, preheat the oven to 350 F. 

When the braid has doubled, gently brush it with the egg wash. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes. 

Let loaf cool completely before slicing. 

#BreadBakers - Stone Fruit

• Apricot and Cherry Focaccia by Herbivore Cucina
• Apricot & Pistachio Buns by Baking Sense
• Apricot & Stilton Soda Bread by Baking in Pyjamas
• Apricot Bread by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Apricot Cranberry Walnut Quick Bread by Spill the Spices
• Apricot Kolaches by Food Lust People Love
• Apricot Oat Casserole Bread with Sweet Vanilla Glaze by A Salad For All Seasons
• Big Batch Bran Muffins by What Smells So Good?
• Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Cherry Bread with Streusel Topping by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Cherry Ricotta Muffins by Sneha's Recipe
• Cinnamon Swirl Peach Bread by Kylee Cooks
• Dried Apricot Bread with Walnuts by The Bread She Bakes
• Eggless Mango Cardamom Walnut Quick Bread by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Eggless Mini Mango Bread by Sara's Tasty Buds
• Mango and Passionfruit Yeast Bread by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Mango Challah by Passion Kneaded
• Mango Jam Rolls with Cremé, Fresh Mangoes and Jam Filling by G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Mango Pull Apart Bread by Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Nectarine-Blueberry Muffins by A Baker's House
• Peach & Nutmeg Sweet Focaccia by The Schizo Chef
• Peach Yogurt Muffins by Magnolia Days
• Plum & Pecan Bread by I Camp in my Kitchen
• Scones with Apricot, Ginger and Brie by Palatable Pastime
• Semolina Bread with Apricots and Sage by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spicy Peach Oatmeal Bread by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Whole Wheat Nectarine Bread by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Wholewheat Sweet Rolls with Mango Filling by Cook's Hideout

 #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Anadama Rolls - #BreadBakers

A few days ago, my mother was going over her shopping list out loud. "Glue, pantyhose, bread..."I quickly jumped in. "I'm making bread today  - no need to buy."

"Kelly, your breads are just too rich... you're trying to fatten us."

I started to object but then I remembered that she was with me when I made the Sunflower Bread. In fact, she mixed the half stick of butter with the garlic cloves for the filling. Then later she watched me make garlic knots - lots of brushing with butter. And no one could convince her that the potato rolls (the non-whole wheat version) were not laden with butter. I kept quiet and started thinking about how I could make my next batch of bread less "rich".

Deepti had challenged us to bake rolls for this month's Bread Bakers. I wanted to include molasses, my latest obsession, but I knew the rolls could not be on the sweet side. Molasses plus oatmeal was my first inclination but that evolved into molasses with cornmeal and some whole wheat flour thrown in for good measure. It turns out that that combination already has a name - Anadama. Anadama bread is typically found in loaf form with varying stories about how it got it's name. Was a husband cursing at his wife named Anna? Did he throw a bag of cornmeal at her? Was he forced to make his own lunch and simply threw all the things in the kitchen into the bowl? We will never be sure.

This bread had always had two strikes against it for me. I refused to buy molasses and I don't really like cornmeal (understatement). I have tried to like it but I often can't get past the smell to swallow a bite. On the rare occasion that I accidentally grab corn tortillas, well..., let's keep this post pleasant. I just can't eat it. Last year I started adding tiny amounts to fried dumplings to see how much I could tolerate. It wasn't too bad - there just had to be so much more flour than cornmeal that my dumplings would be barely tinted. For my mother however, I happily threw some cornmeal into the rolls.

I am happy to report that I ate several of these rolls without mishap. You can't taste the cornmeal at all - everything seems to blend well together. I must warn you though, do not use a very bitter molasses. Maybe you call that blackstrap molasses or maybe you're in a country that just labels it "molasses" (like me), but don't do it. I did so that you don't have to. If you have to use a dark, bitter molasses, use half the suggested amount. By the way, these rolls, while soft, are not the typical fluffy dinner rolls. They are hearty and can hold  up to a wet filling,

Anadama Rolls (adapted from King Arthur)

Ingredients

113g  cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

43 grams butter

59 ml molasses

227g boiling water

1 egg

280g all purpose flour

113g whole wheat flour

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Directions

Mix together the cornmeal and salt and then add the butter and molasses to the bowl. Pour hot water over the mixture. Stir until the butter is melted. Cover and let sit until cool.

When the mixture is cool, mix in the egg then knead in the flours and the yeast. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Knead the dough until it's smooth. It will still be fairly sticky but do your best to get a smooth dough. Sprinkle in a little additional all purpose flour if absolutely necessary. At this point you can let it rise in the refrigerator (dough will be easier to handle) or at room temperature.

When the dough has risen, divide into 16 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball.

Place the dough balls into greased cake pans (I used two 9" pans). Cover and let rise until doubled.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 F. When the dough is ready, bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of at least 190 F.

• Anadama Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Bulochki (Russian Sweet Yeast Rolls) from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cinnamon Rolls from Bakingyummies
• Crescent Rolls from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Feta Olive Knots from Food Lust People Love
• Flax Oat Wheat Dinner Rolls from Cook's Hideout
• Einkorn Parmesan and Garlic Rolls from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls from A Baker's House
• Hokkaido Milk Rolls from Baking in Pyjamas
• Kahvalti – Turkish-style Breakfast Buns from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Masala Bread Rolls from Sneha's Recipes
• Mini Cheddar Bialys from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Oatmeal Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pesto Rolls from Veg Nation
• Raspberry Sweet Rolls from Kylee Cooks
• Savory Cheddar Rolls from Magnolia Days
• Stuffed Vegatable Masala Buns from Spill the Spices
• Twisted Knotted Mint Garlic Rolls from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Wholewheat Low Fat Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Cinnamon Molasses Muffins - #MuffinMonday

I'm from a "sugar country". My father had a few acres of sugarcane and I still have vivid memories of smelling cane burning during harvest season. (The sugarcane field is burned to get rid of all the leaves. The leaves are not processed for sugar and it is more cost effective to burn them than remove them another way.)  I really loved that smell. We also had a few sugarcane plants at the house. There was no burning required - just a machete - to cut what we wanted to eat. In high school, our final history project was on the sugar industry. Just yesterday, my friends' father gave me a book he wrote on Jamaica's sugar industry. A few of my friends lived on sugar estates because their parents worked in the industry.

I say all of this to emphasise that I have a rich sugar background - a background that goes way beyond pouring sugar into my hand or into a cake. Decades ago, that bottle of white rum that I love to reach for when baking, may have had a tiny bit of cane grown by my own father. But with all of that sugar "experience", I am ashamed to admit that I first tasted molasses in February of this year. This is one of those times you just blame my mother and not look at me like that!

I honestly can't remember if we ever had molasses in the house. I have a vague memory of a gallon bottle of a dark substance being in the cupboard at one point. But that memory could be confabulated. Gingerbread cookies are not part of our culture so we certainly were not using it for that. Perhaps it went into cakes? I really do not know. I'll ask my mother later.

After using it in February, I vowed to use it more often, so it was an easy decision to use it for muffins for this Muffin Monday. I did not want traditional gingerbread - though I must admit that it was DIFFICULT to step away from the ginger. I have used ginger every day for the last two weeks. We are a ginger-loving people. I ditched all the other spices and stuck to just my second love - cinnamon. I fancied making a streusel that would emphasise the cinnamon but there have been murmurs about "Kelly trying to make us fat" so I had to hold back.

I had two bottles of molasses to choose from - one from a US brand and the other, a Jamaican molasses. I grabbed the Jamaican molasses and started pouring into my measuring cup. The little voice in my head said, "TASTE IT". And so I did. What in the world?!! Why is it bitter? I grabbed the American brand - yup definitely sweet. What is going on here? I quickly messaged a friend who quickly gave me the breakdown. The Jamaican molasses is akin to blackstrap molasses and there is very little sugar left so it's not as sweet. In fact, the process of making the molasses may be different in the two countries. There was also a quick lesson on how the process of making rum in French islands differed from in the British islands, leading to a very different taste.

That sugar experience that I mentioned above? Forget it. I clearly do not know my sugar. It's a good think I got that book yesterday. I'll be delving into it over the next few weeks. Maybe in another month or so, I can once again pretend that I know something. But first, I need to acquire "wet sugar". That's unrefined, "new" sugar - still wet from the minimal processing. I'd love to tell you more about it but the first time I saw it listed in a recipe for a popular Jamaican treat, I thought they just wanted me to wet my sugar. Don't laugh (too hard)! Wet sugar isn't popular anymore but only after obtaining some and learning more about it, can I start to claim some sugar experience again.

After all that babbling, here are my Cinnamon Molasses Muffins. Scroll down for more Muffin Monday goodness!

Cinnamon Molasses Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap molasses)

Direction

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease or line the wells of a muffin tin. I got 8 muffins from the batch.

Whisk flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, water, coconut oil and molasses.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Don't overmix.

Divide among the muffin wells and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

• Apple Carrot Muffins from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Blueberry Cornmeal Sourdough Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Molasses Muffins from Passion Kneaded  
• Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles
• Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy and Sweet Hummus Muffins from Kelli’s Kitchen
• Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

#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.