All About the Fruits

I love fruit and I will eat most kinds of fruit without complaining - in fact, I tend to be quite happy while eating fruit! Mango, however, does not fall into this category. I love mango smoothies, dried mangoes, mango jelly, mango-flavored candy; but I absolutely dislike fresh mangoes (it's probably the texture). And alas, I received three very large mangoes in my veggie/fruit co-op box. I put them on my counter and watched in distress as they ripened - what to do with them?? In hindsight, I realize that I could have easily dried them, but that did not occur to me at the time (of course!). What did occur to me was that if bananas went into muffins relatively easily, why not mangoes? I searched online and eventually created a combination of two banana-mango muffin recipes found here and here.

Banana-Mango-Coconut Muffins    Print Recipe

• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. oats
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• mashed bananas (~ 1 1/2 bananas)
• 1 - 1 1/2 c. mango puree (~ 1-2 mangoes)
• 1/2 c. nuts (optional)

Combine flours, oats, sugar, coconut, baking powder, soda and salt.

In a large bowl, beat the egg.  Stir in the oil and vanilla. Add the mashed banana and mango puree. Mix thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with Pam and divide the batter among the cups.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

These turned out wonderful! 

(Left) Buttered muffins - yum! (Right) Pre-buttered muffins

I also received a carton of itty-bitty little grapes called champagne grapes (no, these don't make champagne).  Once again the inter-webs came to my rescue with a great recipe for Champagne Grape Cake. Check out the recipe here.  I made this strictly according to the recipe.  It was a fairly simple recipe and turned out a tasty, not overly sweet cake - perfect for a light summer dessert.

(Left) Champagne Grapes  (Right) Champagne Grape Cake