Greece Again: Vasilopita

I know, we already ate Greek, but I couldn't resist this beautiful braided bread. It's a traditional Greek bread made on St. Basil's Day, i.e. New Years Day.

Vasilopita Recipe
Modified from The Festive Bread Book by Kathy Cutler
Makes 1 8-inch braided loaf

1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 cups flour
1/4 cup chopped almonds, for topping

Proof the yeast by dissolving it in the warm water and letting it sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the warm milk, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, lemon peel, spices, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix in the yeast mixture, then add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth - about 10 minutes. Then let rise in a covered, greased bowl until doubled - about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. Flatten one half of the dough into a greased 8-inch round cake pan. Shape the other half into three long ropes, each about 9 inches long. Braid the ropes and attach the ends so it makes a loop. Press the loop into the top of the loaf and sprinkle the middle with chopped almonds.

Cover and let rise again for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake 30 - 40 minutes, until light brown on top.

Index: Breads

This Index Was Last Updated 11 September 2006.
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Quick Breads

	Tea Brack Irish raisin quickbread
	Romanian Chocolate Walnut Bread From a Friend's Ex-Boyfriend's Romanian Mother
	Albanian Sweet Walnut Bread Half bread, half cake, totally drop-dead delicious
	Banana Mango Bread A zesty variation from Dominica
	Bajan Sweet Bread Dense coconut-raisin bread from Barbados
	Johnnycake Cornbread from Bermuda
	Applekoek A soft, light coffee cake from the Netherlands Antilles

Yeast Breads

	Pecan Bubble Bread A.K.A. Monkey Bread (Sans Monkeys)
	Vasilopita A beautiful Greek wreath bread
	Anadama Classic New England sandwich bread
	Babka Puffy Polish bread
	New England Raisin Bread Soft, delicious, lemony and delicate
	Oatmeal Bannock Sweet, scone-like wedges from Scotland
	Czech Easter Braid Flakey, lemon-flavored braid with almonds and raisins

Other Breads

	Croissants Flakey, fantastic French pastry
	Pizza Dough Very soft & lovely

Anadama Bread

I love Anadama sandwich bread. Anadama is about as un-brown-bread-like as a bread can be. Light, fluffy, moist, tender, flavorful. The only resemblance to brown bread is the color. The corn and molasses make for a mouth-wateringly unique flavor and texture.

There are so many possible back-stories for this one – almost all of them cursing some poor woman named Anna.

The stories I've heard so far say the name originated when:

- An old New England farmer damned his wife for putting cornmeal in every darn thing.
- A Rockport (Massachusetts,) fisherman, fed up with his wife's cooking, added flour and yeast to his porridge one day, muttering, "Anna, damn her."
- A husband exclaimed approvingly "Anna, damn her!" while eating the delicious bread
- A sea captain carved on his great-bread-baking wife's grave: "Anna was a lovely bride, but Anna, damn 'er, up and died"

Interestingly, "Anadem" is Latin for a wreath or garland for the head, from the Greek verb meaning "to bind up."

Whatever. It's a good, sturdy New England bread that makes great sandwiches.

Anadama Bread Recipe
Makes a 9-inch loaf

1/3 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
5 Tbsp molasses
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 cups flour
2 tsp salt

Mix the warm water, yeast, and molasses, and set aside for about 5 minutes to let it proof.

Meanwhile, heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until the butter is melted and the milk is warm. Stir in the cornmeal and cook, stirring, for about a minute, then remove from the heat and allow it to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and cooled cornmeal mixture. Add the yeast mixture and mix until a soft dough forms.

Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. It will be a very sticky dough, so you might need to add more flour, but try not to add too much, as it will dry out the bread. Instead of adding the flour directly to the dough, try lightly flouring your hands when the dough starts sticking to them.

Once you have a nice smooth dough, let it rise in an oiled bowl, covered, in a warm place, until it's doubled in size – about 2 hours.

Punch the dough down and stretch into a 9- by 5-inch rectangle. Roll it like a hot dog to make a 9-inch-long cylinder, and place it in a greased, 9-by-5-inch bread pan. Press it down until it fits. Cover and let rise again for another 2 hours, then uncover and bake for about 45 minutes.

The Please-Everybody Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

This is the peanut butter version of the all-things-in-moderation chocolate chip cookie. It's large, but not particularly flat and not particularly puffy; crisp on the outside but soft on the inside; rich enough that you could eat one and be happy or have a second. A versatile, please everybody cookie.

This recipe is based on one by Kathy Bliesner, published in the AllRecipes "Tried & True" cookbook.

The Please-Everybody Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 12-15 cookies

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (for a puffier cookie, use baking powder instead)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp light corn syrup (For a moister version, use 3 Tbsp corn syrup and subtract 1 Tbsp white sugar. For a crisper version, add 2 Tbsp white sugar and use no corn syrup)
2 Tbsp water (For a moister, more chewy cookie, omit the water)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the rack on the upper 1/3 of the oven. A high baking heat firms the dough quickly, giving it less time to spread. If it spreads, it will lose moisture, and become crunchy and flat.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil. Do not use butter or oil – they will make the cookies spread (read: crunchy and flat). Also, do not place dough on a warm cookie sheet – that too will make the dough spread. If the cookie sheet feels too warm, stick it in the refrigerator for a few minutes – a cold sheet will add to the soft and puffy nature of your cookie.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Make sure you don't pack down the flour – more flour will make these cookies hard, thick, and crunchy.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the vanilla and egg, then beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the corn syrup and water, and beat until smooth and fluffy.

With a spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture and chocolate chips until just incorporated. Don't spend too much time mixing here. The baking soda starts reacting the moment it hits the liquid mixture, so you want to get the dough mixed, formed, and baking quickly.

Drop the dough by 2 Tablespoon-fulls onto the sheets, about 2 inches apart. The goal with these cookies is to prevent spreading, so whatever shape you give these original cookies should be retained. Make these large. If they are too small, they won't retain moisture as well, and will become crunchy and flat.

Bake 12 - 14 minutes. The edges should turn a light brown, but the centers should just be coloring and soft. For a chewier cookie, bake less; for a crispy one, bake more.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

We interrupt this blog to bring you a special birthday cake. My little sister, Charlie, turned 20 last Thursday, so I sent her an upside-down world map. It was a successful decoy, for my real plan was this cake:

It's a ginger pound cake with a buttercream basketweave pattern, covered by a field of daffodils and the merry woodland creatures who have come to wish Charlie a happy birthday. On the far left is a pigeon - Charlie's favorite bird ("I love pigeons! They look like they're up to something.") Then a giraffe ("Evil Giraffe"), then a blue penguin - Charlie once adopted a penguin and named it Gordon. Up front is a hegdhog with a daffodil behind one ear.






















The animals are made from cupcakes that I carved up and patched together with Royal Icing.

I'm particularly proud of the daffodils (Charlie's favorite flowers).

The purple anenome-like flower in front is an aster, and the blue-green one in the background is a bachelor's button.

Happy Birthday, kid-o.

Cake Decorating Attempt #2: Farm o' Fudge

My second attempt at cake decorating was rather less inspired than the first. I found instructions online for how to make a buttercream sheep, and so of course dropped everything and designed my entire cake around them. The sheep actually ended up a bit lame (literally - their legs kept breaking) - but the cake itself was fan-friggin-tastically delicious.

I call the decorating attempt: "Duck Pond & Barnyard After a Rain #1"


The strange orange contraptions on the side were supposed to be corn husks.

Alright! This one is behind me. Another attempt tomorrow - horray!

Cookie Experiment #7: Full Fat versus Non Fat

Summary: Full-fat yogurt creates a moister, denser muffin. Non-fat yogurt produces a drier, more aerated muffin.

Joy of Muffins has a lemon poppyseed poundcake muffin recipe (delicious), which calls for plain yogurt. It says quite explicitly: "Do not use non-fat yogurt."

I just can't help myself. I had to test it.

The batter was different from the start. The full-fat yogurt (on the right below) produced a smoother, creamier batter. The non-fat (left) was clumpy and thick.

The resulting muffins, though, differed more subtly. The full-fat muffin (top photo, right) was definitely denser and moister. The non-fat (top photo, left) was more aerated and dry. But the differences were small. If I weren't eating them side-by-side, I would never notice the difference.

Still, the full-fat muffin is clearly superior. Sigh. Just once, I want the healthier version to taste better.

Patlicanli Pilav: Turkish Eggplant Pilaf

This is a bit of an odd-ball rice dish. Tremendously tasty. The diced-up eggplant gives it a curious texture that you don't often run into. It's quite a popular side dish in Turkey, so I'm told.

Patlicanli Pilav
Makes enough for 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main dish

1 small eggplant
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup rice (preferably long-grain), rinsed
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth or water
1 large bunch dill, chopped
Salt to taste

Cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes. (I left the seeds in, since I think they're pretty, but feel free to take them out.) Rinse the cubes and press them with a towel to get all the extra moisture out.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and quickly brown the eggplant cubes. Remove the eggplant cubes and set aside to let them drain.

Add the rice and tomatoes to the oil, and cook over medium heat, stirring for about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat the low and cook until all the broth is absorbed and the rice is tender (if the rice is not tender yet, add a bit more water).

Stir in the eggplant and the dill. Cover, set the heat to the very lowest setting, and let cook for about 30 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom (if it is, add a little bit of water to loosen it up). Serve hot.

Mushroom-Stuffed Tomatoes from Croatia

There's not enough paprika in my life. Having decided this, I realized I knew almost nothing about the spice, and immediately wasted an hour and a half reading about it. ADD drives me nuts, but at least now I know that paprika is a dried pepper that originated in South America, that Peru exports 75,000 metric tons of it per year, and that – bizarrely – Zimbabwe is a major producer.

None of which has to do with the recipe I finally cooked using it. This is from Croatia – a zesty, delicious stuffed tomato that uses sweet Hungarian paprika. According to the label, though, my sweet Hungarian paprika was not produced in Hungary, but in Peru – 2 ounces of that 75,000 annual metric tons.

Mushroom-Stuffed Tomatoes from Croatia
Serves 2

4 medium tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
2 Tbsp oil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Saute the onions in the oil, add the mushrooms and spices, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms release their delicious mushroom-juices. Add the flour and the eggs and cook until the eggs start to solidify.

Meanwhile, chop off the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out their pulp. Stuff them with the mushroom mixture, top them with the cheese and breadcrumbs, replace their tops, and set them in a deep baking dish. Fill the dish with 1/2 cup water, cover, and bake for about 20 minutes.

Link - Link - Cookie! (Mocha Truffle, No Less)

Heavens!

Last night, I checked the email account to which my comments are emailed. And there were a lot of comments!

"I'm popular!" I thought. "What's going on?"

Then I saw, at the base of the comment bonanza, an email from Cate at Sweetnicks. I was new blogger of the week! I was tickled pink.

Now I have a few dozen new comments to respond to (joy!) – but first, I need to say an enormous thank you to Cate from Sweetnicks for the link and compliments. Silly that a link should make me go skipping through my kitchen, waving my spatula like a wand and blessing the salt and pepper shakers – but it did. So thank you!

To really emphasize the thank you, I went straight to the Sweetnick blog, picked out the Mocha Truffle Cookies, and baked the little devils. Oh ho ho are they ever tasty. I only had 1/2 cup chocolate chips, so I used butterscotch chips in place of that last cup.

What an unfathomably delicious cookie. Sweetnick says not to bake them a second longer than 10 minutes - and she is completely right. 10 minutes make a lusciously moist and brownie-like cookie. Oh joy!

Anyway – thank you for the link, Sweetnick! (And the comments, everyone else – I am a girl who does like comments and will be wading through them soon!)

The Unfathomable Puffiness Of Being – A Tale of Polish Babka Bread

I rarely exclaim during baking. When I do, it's usually a bad thing. (i.e., "My oven mitt is on fire!" or "Don't sit on that cream pie!")

But tonight, I opened my oven, and involuntarily cried, "Oh my god!" Never have I seen a bread puff so very much. From a regular-sized lump of dough, it had puffed straight up the sides of my 10-cup Bundt pan, out the top, and was reaching up to the top burner, crisping the top of its crown, on the verge of burning. I whipped it out of there and plopped it on my stovetop.

Just in time, too – it was just right. The insides are puffy, light, and deliciously soft; the crust gentle but firm. It tastes that way a good night sleep should, after a long and productive day.

Babka is traditionally served on Easter Sunday, but I baked it on a Monday in mid-June, and it worked just fine. A versatile bread. Splendid.

Babka
Makes 1 enormous loaf

2/3 cup warm milk
3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
7 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped candied orange peel
1/2 cup almonds, chopped

Mix the warm milk and 1/2 cup flour. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes to proof, then mix with the warm milk mixture, cover, and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar for about 5 minutes, then add the salt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and butter. Add the yeast mixture and enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Let rise, covered, in a greased bowl for about 1 hour, or until doubled.

Knead in the orange peel and the almonds, about 10 minutes. Cover again and let rise for another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Punch down the dough and scoop into a greased Bundt pan (a big one). Let it rise, covered, for another hour, then bake for an hour or so.

Whole Wheat Hummus-Stuffed Khobz

This is another recipe from the wonderful blog Ya Rayi Our Rai, written by California School of Culinary Arts chef Farid Zadi. I combined his recipe for hummus with his recipe for whole-wheat khobz to get this layered, calzone-style sandwich.

This little devil is a perfect lunch food: portable, delicious, light yet filing. It is crispy on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside. Plus, all the little hummus-filled layers look cool. And looking cool is critical for a lunch food.

Whole Wheat Hummus-Stuffed Khobz
Makes 1 large khobz

The Dough
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3.5 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

The Hummus
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt to taste

For the dough, mix all the ingredients and knead the dough for about 30 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. (Don't skimp on kneading time here – it's worth it!) Rub with oil, cover with plastic, and set aside to let it rest for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the hummus by placing all the ingredients in a blender and blending to a paste.

To assemble the khobz, roll the dough out into a 10-inch disk and spread the hummus evenly over the disk. Make one cut from the center of the disk to the outer edge. (See here for a demonstration). Peel this edge up, and roll up the dough around it to make a cone-shaped tube. This make the hummus layers.

Press the edges of the tube together to seal them, then very gently press the tube out as flat as you can without squeezing the hummus out the sides. Brush the tube with oil and cook on a frying pan over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through.

Joy! My First Attempt at Cake Decorating

I've been wanting to learn how to decorate cakes, so last Sunday I gave it a shot. Wow.

This is a triple-layer white cake with raspberry-almond filling and buttercream roses. I did a basketweave around the outside to make it into a basket of flowers. It took almost all day Sunday to make, but oh was it worth it!

Building the flowers took the most time. At every stage, I thought: "That's great! I'll leave it like that!" Then I just kept adding more. I still had half a bowl of frosting left over when I was done!

Time for bragging. I love the way it looks. But the taste of the cake is stellar as well - light and fluffy yet moist. The raspberry-almond filling just breaks my heart. I have a new favorite cake.

Triple-Layer Raspberry-Almond Cake
Makes one enormous cake

2 3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cup whole milk
8 egg whites
2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
15 Tbsp butter, softened

Frosting
32 Tbsp butter
8 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk


Filling
1 cup blanched almonds, chopped
1 cup seedless raspberry jam

1: Make the cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 8-inch round cake pans, and dust with flour.

Mix the milk, egg whites, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the dough resembles bread crumbs. Add the milk and beat until a smooth batter forms - about 3 minutes. Divide the batter evenly among the three cake pans and bake about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool briefly in the pan, then shake out onto cooling racks. Let cool completely - at least 2 hours.

2: Make the frosting & filling.

Cream all the frosting ingredients in a large bowl. Remove 1/2 cup of the frosting and mix it with the chopped almonds.

3: Assemble cake.

Once the cake layers are cool, dab a bit of frosting on the cake board, and set the first layer on it to anchor it. Gently spread half of the almond filling over the first layer, then spread half of the raspberry jam over that. Place the second layer on top of the first and repeat the frosting layering. Place the third layer on top, and frost the sides and top of the cake in a thin layer of frosting. Refrigerate for an hour, then apply a thick layer of frosting on the sides and top.

For the flowers, I used instructions that I found at Cake Central. The decorating information at Baking 911 is also highly useful.

Fiji: Spiced Dhal Soup

This is a warmly-spiced, thick and creamy soup that needs a lot of salt. I enjoyed it, but I doubt I would make it again. It looks just like the Armenian Apricot Soup that I love, but it falls short of it by a ways.

Fijian Spiced Dhal Soup
Makes enough for 2

1/4 cup dry pink lentils
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup strong vegetable stock
1 tsp oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp ground red chilies
1/2 carrot, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 tsp soy sauce


Soak the lentils, fenugreek, and mustard in a large sauce pan for about an hour. Drain the lentils, add the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils have been reduced to a soft mush.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and garlic, and cook over medium heat until they are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the browned onion-garlic mixture to the lentils. Also add the chilies and carrots, and cook for another 15 minutes, until the carrots are tender.

Allow it to cool a bit, then pour into a blender and puree.

Pour back into saucepan and add salt, turmeric, curry, and soy sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into bowls and garnish with soy sauce.

Cookie Experiment #6: Melting Chocolate in Saucepan vs. Microwave

This is the strangest thing. I have no idea why it's happened. I did this experiment on a lark, since I was going to be melting butter and chocolate anyway. I didn't really think they would produce different results.

Below: same recipe, prepared in same way. On the left, cookies made from chocolate and butter that was melted in a saucepan. On the right, cookies made from chocolate and butter that was melted in a microwave. (In both methods, the butter and chocolate were cut up before being heated, and stirred periodically to prevent them from clumping up.)

The saucepan cookies are obviously much tighter and puffier. The microwave cookies spread much more. It's possible that I let the microwave run too long, thus burning the chocolate slightly. I'll have to test this again in the future.

Since this cookie was supposed to be puffy, obviously the saucepan melting method is preferablem, and though the microwave cookie looks better, it is dry and not as delicious.

The dough was obviously different too: (again, saucepan-melted is on left)

Baffling. Why has this happened?

Cumin Ka'ak: A Crunchy Syrian Bread Stick

This is a crunchy little pretzel with a fantastically delicious flavor from the cumin and the anise. They make great bread sticks, or can be shaped into pretzels for snacks. Don't let their humble appearance fool you – their spices pack a deliciously unexpected flavor.

Cumin Ka'ak
Makes about 80 long breadsticks

1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
1/2 cups margarine, melted
1 Tbsp anise seeds
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
1/4 tsp mahlep, optional

Egg Wash
1 egg, beaten
Sesame seeds, optional
Plenty of salt

Mix water and yeast, and allow to sit for about 5 minutes, until it begins to froth.

Meanwhile, grind the anise, cumin, caraway, and mahlep in a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle until they are fragrant and broken, but not powdered.

Melt the margarine and stir in the flour. Mix in the yeast until a soft dough forms. Mix in the ground spices.

Grease a clean bowl, place the dough into it, turn the dough over once to grease both sides, and let rise, covered, in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Punch down the dough, and divide it into 40 small balls. Roll each into a rope about 10 inches long, and cut in half to 80 make 5-inch-long ropes. You can shape these however you like, then dip each into the beaten egg, roll it in the sesame seeds and salt, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until light brown.

Armenian Apricot Soup

There are lots of variations on this soup. This one is from The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups by David Ansel, but other versions call for bell peppers, tomatoes, mint, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne, paprika, and any number of other ingredients.

I like this one the best. It is a thick, beautiful pink soup with a comforting texture and warm, carroty flavor.

Armenian Apricot Soup
Makes enough for 4

1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 cups pink lentils
5 cups water
1 cup dried apricots, chopped

In a large soup pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion and carrots until the onion is transparent, about 10 minutes. Mix in the cumin, lower the heat, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the lentils and water, simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes. (Add more water as needed to keep the lentils from sticking to the bottom). Then stir in the apricots, remove from heat, and let cool slightly before putting it in the blender. Blend to a puree and add a bit of salt.

Dominica: Banana Mango Bread

This looks just like banana bread, but has the most subtle, deliciously zestly spring to the flavor. I've never tasted a bread like it before. I absolutely love it.

It's best hot from the oven. Once it's cooled, it still tastes delicious, but the zesty mango taste is more subdued.

Dominican Banana Mango Bread
Makes 2 loaves

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
3 cups cake flour (all-purpose will work too)
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 very ripe banana, peeled (the riper, the better)
1 small very ripe mango, peeled
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two loaf pans (8 1/2 x 4 1/2).

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a blender or food processor, puree the banana and mango.

Mix by hand the dry ingredients with the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the pureed fruit. Fold in the walnuts and raisins (I like to sprinkle the walnuts on top - they're pretty that way). Mix just until incorporated – not too much! Pour batter into the pans and bake for 50 – 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then dump out onto wire cooking racks and let cool completely.

Chec cu Nuca si Cacao: Romanian Sweet Bread with Nuts and Cocoa

Upon learning of my quest to cook every country on Earth, a friend of mine sent me a recipe for Romanian Chocolate-Walnut Bread. She's from Pennsylvania, but she dated a Romanian for three and a half years, which is a lot closer to Romania than I've ever been.

This is a beautiful quick-bread: spongy, soft and sweet, with a delicate crunch of walnuts and a decorative band of chocolate.

Chec cu Nuca si Cacao
Makes 2 loaves

1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 lemon zest
5 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans.

Cream the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each. Add the milk, lemon zest, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and walnuts. Mix this with the wet ingredients. Pour about 1/2 of the batter into a new bowl and mix in the cocoa. (Add a bit of milk if it's too thick).

Into each loaf pan, pour a layer of the white batter, making sure to leave some batter for the top. Then pour in a layer of the chocolate batter, and top each with the last of the white batter.

Bake about 1 hour, until a stick comes out clean.

Let the loaves cool and dust with powdered sugar.