So, it's not yet mango season in the Caribbean, but we found the fruit guy who sets up under a grove of mango trees on the road from Chaguaramas to Port of Spain, and he was selling two varieties - most likely from Indonesia! They were getting very ripe, and we were still up to our ears in work after getting Raconteur back in the water, so I called on my elusive baking skills, and found a recipe for mango muffins.
I was just assembling the ingredients, and realized - oops - no milk. It is impossible to buy fresh milk in the Caribbean, though the UHT stuff is widely available, and I sometimes keep powdered milk, but I had none of the above on board. I did, however, have a can of coconut milk; I hailed our friends Ann and Steve, Steve did a quick Google, and he discovered (on Food Network, which is a reasonably reliable source, we find) the following quote: "Substitute coconut milk for the liquid and half of the fat in your favorite blueberry muffin recipe", so that is indeed what I did. The recipe makes 18 muffins (I used the semi-disposable aluminium muffin tins), and of course sent a few to our friends for their contribution. I renamed the recipe to acknowledge the substitution; you can go back to using milk and the 1/4 cup of oil if you like, but this worked splendidly, if I do say so myself.
Recipe: Caribbean-Style Mango Muffins
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar or 3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup of a combination of coconut milk and vegetable oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 egg
1 -1 1/2 cup mango, pulp of (2 very ripe mangoes) Note: we had one large mango and it yielded a little more than a cup and a half, thanks to our onboard Mango Wranger, Susan. I used it all)
Cut and peel two very ripe (soft to the touch) mangoes and reduce to soft pulp and juice. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine oil, milk, and egg.
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar or 3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup of a combination of coconut milk and vegetable oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 egg
1 -1 1/2 cup mango, pulp of (2 very ripe mangoes) Note: we had one large mango and it yielded a little more than a cup and a half, thanks to our onboard Mango Wranger, Susan. I used it all)
Cut and peel two very ripe (soft to the touch) mangoes and reduce to soft pulp and juice. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine oil, milk, and egg.
Mix liquid ingredients with dry until just moist and stir in the mango pulp.
Fill greased muffin tins, or paper muffin cups two-thirds full.
Bake at 400°F for 15-18 minutes Note: In my boat oven, these took a full 20 minutes, and they were still quite tender.
They are done when they are brown on top and a tooth-pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
They are done when they are brown on top and a tooth-pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
