What I'm Baking

Costa Rican Mango Bread by some retired expat

Above all Mango is my favorite fruit. Whether eating them fresh after peeling the skin, or added to a fruit salad, mixed with yogurt, or made with this wonderful Mango bread recipe, I simply love the king of all fruit. I just purchased almost ten pounds of mangos for $1.85 at a local outside market in Costa Rica. In the States that would be the price for one mango not ten pounds of mangos!

Please Note: Shawn & Jesse Inslee have an enormous Mango tree in front of their club house, so mangos are completely free...hundreds of them. Take that retired guy!

The Himalayas are the origin of the mango, the history of mango cultivation goes back for 4,000 years. Mangos are a sub-tropical fruit, and more mangos are eaten fresh than any other fruit in the world. The enzymes in mangos are tenderizing as are the enzymes in papaya. Mangos help to lower cholesterol, the fiber content is a wonderful aid to digestion regularity and they are rich in the vitamins A and C, and several minerals.

They provide more carotenoid than other fruits and are also low in calories. They will yield slightly to pressure when ripe. Ripe mangos may have a variety of colors, being red, through orange, yellow, to green when ripe.

As with other similar fruits, unripe mangos may be kept in a paper bag for a few days to entrap the ethylene gas that is naturally generated, promoting the ripening process.

You will want to share this Costa Rica Mango Bread recipe with all your friends and loved ones once you taste the sweet savory flavor. I am retired in Costa Rica and never would have appreciated the incredible taste of mangos if it were not for me living in this wonderful country. If mangos are not available in your area during a certain time of the year you can substitute bananas for the mangos, it will produce great banana bread as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups-good quality flour

• 2 tsp-baking soda

• 2 tsp-baking powder

• 1 tsp-ground cinnamon

• 3-eggs

• 1 ½ cups- sugar (natural sugar is available)

• ¾ cup of sunflower oil

• 2 cups of mashed mango

• ½ cup of raisins

• ½ cup of shredded coconut

• ½ cup of chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Use a large mixing bowl to mix all ingredients thoroughly.

First beat eggs, then add sugar and oil. Mix well and then add fruit. Stir in dry ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Pour mixture in a greased 9 in x 13 in Pyrex pan or baking pan of your choice.

Bake for 40-60 minutes. Using a wood toothpick test the bread to check it for finished baked consistency. If the bread sticks too much to the toothpick it needs more time, also keep an eye out on the color, it should be golden on top.

Cool in the pan and when cool cut into nice size slices and enjoy with some fine Costa Rica coffee.