It's all Gillian's fault...and Pamela's =)

Sometimes I really hate getting older.  For instance, it's very frustrating when I get sick.  The same cold that barely slows my kiddos down knocks me on my butt.  Ugh.  I really didn't mean to take this long to post my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe this week.  I actually made the recipe on Sunday.  But my in-laws were here until Tuesday morning, so I didn't get a chance to write up the post.  And then Gillian was kind enough to share her cold with me, so by Tuesday evening I didn't want to do anything but go to bed.  Fortunately, I had the day off today (Wednesday), so I figured that even if I didn't feel that great, I'd at least have plenty of time to get some writing done (and maybe even clear out some of my Google Reader!).  

I figured I'd better finish my Anadama Bread post first, since I already had that started.  And I thought I'd check my email and read some stuff on Facebook while I was waiting for my brain to wake up all the way (stupid cold).  When I was reading stuff last night, I discovered that Pamela had signed up for Twitter.  Now I've been thinking about it for a while, since a bunch of the other TWD/BBA folks are on there.  Like the BBA Challenge, I figured it was another activity that I didn't need.  But for some reason, Pamela joining was the push I needed. =)  So it's her fault that I'm just writing this now.  Because I spent the morning sitting around in my pajamas, drinking tea (and coughing and sneezing), trying to figure out Twitter.  =)

But now to get to the Mango Bread.  (not yeasted bread; think banana or zucchini bread)  This week's recipe was chosen by Kelly of Baking with the Boys.  I don't read Kelly's blog as often as I should--when I do, it's quite entertaining.  And thanks to Kelly, I did something new--bought a fresh mango.  I've bought frozen mango chunks before (mango peach daquiri...mmm...), but for some reason, I don't think I've ever bought a whole one.  (Jamie just said he thinks we've bought one before, I but don't remember it.)  Fortunately, I've watched enough cooking shows that it didn't give me too much trouble.  Actually, I bought two, since a lot of people reported needing more than one to get two cups of diced mango.

I pretty much followed the recipe on this one.  I did have to use lemon zest instead of lime.  I could have sworn I had another lime in the fridge, but no such luck.  I used golden raisins since I had them on hand and because some little bitty ants had managed to get into the regular raisins.  (argh)  And rather than use a loaf pan, I made muffins, mostly because they wouldn't take as long to bake.  As usual, I managed to overfill the cups, but it didn't make too big a mess.  I did realize that I had too much batter, and put the last of it in a ramekin to bake.  The muffins took about 30 minutes to bake.

The verdict?  Mmm.  This one's a keeper.  Very moist, since the recipe uses oil rather than butter.  A bunch of people commented on the P&Q that these were better the second day, and I agree.  As usual, Brianna ate one and claimed to like it, but then changed her mind.  Gillian really liked them.  And our house guests seemed to like them too.  

For the recipe, head over to Kelly's blog.  And now that I've managed to get this done, maybe I really will catch up on my Google Reader and comment on some of the other mango breads out there.  But first I'm going to see if more tea will help my stuffy head feel better. *sigh*

Spicing things up for Father's Day

Brianna has been going on all week about what she wanted to do for Father's Day.  She was quite insistent that we had to make something special for breakfast.  Her idea of special?  French toast.  I'm sure it's merely a coincidence that she happened to pick her favorite breakfast food for us to make. =)  So we did make French toast, though Brianna didn't really help this time--too busy watching cartoons.  

I wanted to add something else to make things seem a bit more special, plus I haven't baked anything in a few days.  (However, I'm on vacation this next week, which should give me a chance to try out some new things--yay!)  I've been wanting to make the Cardamom Crumb Cake from Baking From My Home to Yours for quite some time, and a spent a little while looking at that page in the cookbook.  But it wasn't exactly what I was after, and I don't usually have any brewed coffee on hand.  I've enjoyed the Allspice Crumb Muffins from that same tome, despite the fact that I've had some problems with them.  So I decide to combine the two.  The verdict?  Quite good, almost certainly a do-again.  I'd like to play around with the recipe some more to see what else I can come up with.

Allspice Crumbcake

(inspired by Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

For the crumbs:

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

For the cake batter:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground allspice

2 eggs

1 cup milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan (I used Pyrex).  

For the crumbs:  Put all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and toss them together just until blended.  Add the butter, and using your fingers, mix everything together until you've got crumbs of different sizes.  Set the crumb mixture aside while you make the cake batter.

For the batter:  Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and allspice in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir with a rubber spatula just until combined.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the crumbs over the top in an even layer.  

Bake for 30-35 minutes (mine took 35), or until the cake has risen, the crumbs are golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Transfer to a rack to cool in the pan.  Serve warm or room temperature.