A Break

from our feathered friends.  Surely you need one.  

So...  Papaya Quick Bread.  You see, I had that party, and I had planned on making lots of sangria.  Which I did, indeed, make, but I bought much more papaya.  (I made more than one type of sangria.  I've always been an over-achiever.)  So, I had to figure out what to do with all of the left over papaya.  Shakes (batidas) were somewhat uninspiring (although I STILL have some left to try my own creation).  So, I dug a little deeper.  I wasn't in the mood for a salsa, as that also meant that I would have to then make something to accompany the said salsa.  So, quick bread it was... kind of.  Except the recipes that I found had very little papaya and a lot of everything else.  I had to get creative, which also means that YOU get a new recipe!  I still would change things a little more next time around, but here is the recipe as I made it:  

You need:

3 eggs

1C sugar

3/4 C applesauce

1C shredded carrot

2 1/2 C smashed ripe papaya

1t salt

4C flour (I used 3C unbleached white and 1C whole wheat)

1T baking soda

1t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

You do:

1.  Preheat the oven to 325F and coat either 2 regular-sized or 4 medium-sized loaves with oil, butter, or cooking spray.

2.  Mix together the eggs, sugar, and applesauce at slow speed for 1-2 minutes.

3.  Add in the carrots and papaya, mix 1-2 minutes.

4.  Add the flours, salt, spices and baking soda, and beat at medium for about 2 minutes.  Do not over-mix (just until blended), or your breads will fall flat and heavy.

5.  Pour into the loaf pans.  

6.  If you are using the regular-sized, bake 55-60 minutes; if the medium, bake about 40 minutes.  (You could do muffins baked about 18-20 minutes, too.)  All until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

7.  Allow to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before placing on cooling racks.

8.  Allow to cool on cooling racks completely before wrapping.

(If you don't have a standing mixer, do this:  Mix eggs, sugar, applesauce in a large bowl.  Mix completely.  Add the carrot and papaya to this.  Mix the dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking soda, spices) in a medium bowl.  Add the dry TO the wet ingredients and mix again.  This is where you DO NOT over-mix--just until blended.  Then go to step 5 above.)

Eat well  :)

Now, as I said, I will do differently next time:  I like carrots well enough, but cannot really figure out why they are here.  So, I would get rid of them altogether, and replace that cup with more papaya.  Also, although this is a good sweetness for me, I don't like very sweet things.  So I have a feeling that R (and the majority of you) would prefer more sugar.  (He'll try it tonight.)  In that case, either more sugar inside, or a caramelized topping would be good.  And, I don't know, those spices... I saw one recipe that called for a tablespoon (!!!) of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg (yes, for the same final quantity).  Even though I am using SOOO much less than that, it's still kind of overpowering.  I might just cut them out completely next time.  I guess we'll know more next time I overbuy for sangria!  :)