Tuesday, July 29, 2008

THE COLOR OF YUMMY


Yesterday I needed to make use of several ultra large and tasty papayas we had so I whipped up a new version of papaya bread. 4 loaves and 3 mini bundts actually (this was a double batch of the recipe below). This was actually more like a cake since I used cake flour in place of my usual whole wheat. The results were unexpected, but the taste was incredible. I did not stop to think it would be more cake like. I just wanted to use the whiter flour so that the color of the papaya would shine through. It was a bit difficult to remove the cakes from the loaf and mini bundt pans that I used since the cakes rose higher than expected. If you decide to use cake flour for this recipe I suggest using a cake pan and leaving about 1/2" from the top. Place on a cookie sheet while baking. The only thing I think would make them tastier would be a lime ginger cream cheese frosting. Papayas come in several varieties and I used what I believe are Rainbow papayas which tend to have a more pinkish color. We also have Sunshine Papayas which are more golden in color inside. The Rainbows tend to be on the sweeter side and my personal favorite.

Yes that is the real color after it was all mashed up.

The batter was a really nice peach color once all mixed and produced this colorful orangy cake. Notice the chunks of papaya, mac nuts and cranberries!

For breakfast with a banana and coffee.
Try it... you'll like.

Papaya Bread
(use cake flour for a light cake like bread or whole wheat for a denser bread)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup mashed ripe Papaya

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 1/2 cup cake flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground corriander

1/2 tsp lime zest
pinch dry ground clove

(you can substitute any spices to suit your own taste. cinnamon, ginger, vanilla etc. coriander may not be for everyone but it is really good. it's more fragrant then spice like.)


- Cream sugar with butter.

- Add eggs and beat until fluffy.

- Mix in Papaya, lime zest, mac nuts and cranberries.

- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, corriander and clove. Add this to the butter mixture.

- Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake at 325F for 40 -60 minutes depending on how deep your pans are.

6 comments:

everett peacock said...

please, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE with cane sugar on top.....OPEN A RESTAURANT (next door perferably)

Events by Evonne, LLC said...

Wow, looks good... although I don't really like papayas!

James said...

Just tried the Mango Upside Down Cake...it is off the hook! Also, I followed your advice and used the Bolthouse Farm chai vanilla. Great recommendation! I plan on generalizing that substitution to other recipes as well.

James said...

Ooops....just realized i'm in the wrong thread. My apologies.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, found your blog through the hapa | hale blog ... loving it! Iʻm a local girl who lived in NYC for 10 long years then SF for 5 more before finally moving back to Maui last fall. Enjoying your food posts -- yes, please open a bakery! Feel free to check out my food blog too: On My Plate (www.onmyplate.org) and also my lavender farm photos (creen.smugmug.com). Aloha!

Conn said...

thanks for visiting and all the comments.

James: Glad you like the idea of the Bolthouse Farm chai vanilla.

Creen: nice to see you here. I sent you a separate e-mail gushing over you blog as well.