When fresh fruits are used in ingredients for baking anything, the result is always delicious. So the recipe I am sharing this week is of mango bread, because, obviously, it is the season of mangoes and we can’t get enough of it.

I like fruity breads because they seem like a simpler version of cakes, are easy to prepare — if you are not using a recipe with yeast and have to wait for the dough to rise — and you can have them immediately without bothering with frosting or icing.

A thing that makes me love fresh fruits in cakes and breads is the delicious and wholesome taste of the fruit. I would rather wait for the fruit to be in season rather than make something off-season with canned fruits.

When making this super moist bread, I skipped the cinnamon powder that was mentioned in the recipe because not everyone likes cinnamon in our house so I had to modify it. You add a teaspoon of it, and also chopped walnuts, coconut flakes and chocolate chips, if you have a taste for any of these.

You must taste the mangoes before starting, and if they are not very sweet, you can add some more sugar. I used the langra variety and found the bread sweet enough without additional sugar. However, I think because I used a large mango, the pulp was more than a cup, which is why the bread was super moist and though it had risen well in baking, the centre kind of fell on cooling down. The taste was, however, delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 6 tbsp brown sugar
• 6 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 cup mangoes
• 1 egg, large
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with the buttermilk, oil, honey and vanilla extract until combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda salt. Add sugars and mix until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a hand whisk or spoon until just until combined. Fold in the chopped mangoes.

Oil a 9x5-inch loaf pan. and lightly dust it with flour. This helps when the baked bread to come out without much fuss. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the bread from the pan and move it to a wire rack to cool completely. This can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days but since it is very hot these days, I suggest keeping it in the fridge after a day or less.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 19th, 2021