I’m not much of a dessert person, but I do enjoy scones (must have raisins) or coconut sweet bread with my morning cup of tea. These days is decaf tea and not those rich cups of Ovaltine and Milo I grew up on. I’ve been hitting the gym quite regularly (have to get in some sort of shape for carnival – look for me if you’re playing in Tribe) so I have to try and stay away from the condense milk sweetened cups of tea I so enjoyed back in those days. I still recall dipping my Crix in the cup and making a meal out of it. GOOD TIMES!
Here’s a simple recipe using chunks of ripe mango to give any boring muffin a punch of true Caribbean flavor. I just love the warm and homely feel you get when you have the alluring scent of baking coming out of the kitchen. If you’re ever trying to sell your home and you have an open house, bake something. Buyers (especially women) will be drawn to the property for sure.
You’ll Need…
1 ripe mango (peeled and cubed)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract.
* A nice addition to this would be chunks of pineapple as well – next time I decide to bake I’ll give that a shot.
This takes about 30 minutes from the time you start to the time the warm tasty treats comes out of the oven, so it’s a great treat for the family on a lazy Sunday morning.
Peel the skin from the mango with a vegetable peeler or pairing knife. Cut the mango vertically, with a sharp knife, sliding the knife along the seed on one side. Repeat on other side of the seed; cut any mango away from around the seed and chop the mango into small cubes. Be sure to use a ripe, but firm mango.
The next step is to mix all the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl; mix well. I used a whisk for this process so everything gets incorporated evenly.
BTW, while we’re getting the batter ready preheat your oven at 400. Combine the milk, oil, eggs, and almond extract in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth. Then add the milk mixture to the flour mixture; stir just until moistened (try not to over-mix). The final step is to stir the chopped mango gently into the batter. This step can be a bit messy if you’re anything like me, but pour the batter evenly into a 12 cup muffin pan. Bake the mango muffins until golden brown, 20 – 25 minutes. Remove the muffins from the cups and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.
* Don’t forget to lightly grease the muffin tray or do as I did and give it a good spray with baking spray.
Didn’t I say it was fairly easy and fast to make? Nothing beats a warm muffin on a cool morning with a hot cup or tea or coffee while you check your Facebook account to maco what your friends are up to. Speaking about Facebook… don’t forget to join our select group of foodies! CLICK HERE TO JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!
I’ll be the first to admit that baking is NOT one of my strong points, but I’m slowly getting the hang of this and I’m quite confident that I’ll perfect it pretty soon. I’m still to figure out why my cakes tend to split in the middle (top) when baked – maybe one of my readers can help with this? This recipe is pretty straight forward so I won’t go into much detail as with other recipes I post.But I still have a few pics to help you along the way.
