A Truly Tropical Tea Bread

There are quite a few tea bread recipes on my site. Some are healthier than others but all are pretty delicious with a cup of tea or mug of coffee. I have been looking for a truly tropical tea bread recipe, one that would remind me of the flavors of my childhood when I would climb Tamarind, Orange, Mango and Guava trees to gorge on the sweet, ripe fruit. None of what I found on the web reflected this at all. Some recipes used ingredients that are not even available naturally in tropical regions. This recipe is a result of trying to incorporate the flavors I remember, into a banana bread that would bring back fond memories for me.This is delicious especially when spread with sweet cream butter!

 Ingredients

8 oz self raising flour

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground Jamaican Allspice

1-2 dashes of ground black pepper

1 tsp grated ginger root

Juice of 1/2 lime

2 oz butter

2 oz coconut oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed

4 oz dark brown sugar

Grated rind of one orange

2 eggs

4 tbsp guava jelly/jam

1 tbsp Honey (if a darker bread is preferred substitute honey for 1 tbsp molasses)

1 1/2  tbsp Tamarind Paste/concentrate

1 oz dried mango or guava, finely chopped

Method

1. Grease and flour a 1-5-2lb loaf pan. I also line the pan with parchment paper because of the “syrup based” ingredients
2. Put flour and spices in a bowl and work in butter and coconut oil to get a crumbly mixlike the texture of coarse cornmeal or breadcrumbs
3. Peel and mash the bananas (I use a fork). Add the grated orange zest, ginger root and chopped mango to this. Pour the lime juice over this and mix well. Set aside
   
4. Beat eggs and sugar until it gets a bit pale (I use the whisk attachment on my mixer). Add the guava jelly, tamarind paste, honey and whisk for another minute. Fold in banana mixture.
5. Change the mixer attachment to the paddle type and mix wet and dry ingredients. Alternatively, mix by hand until just incorporated then pour into prepared loaf pan.
6. Bake in 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If it starts to become too brown either decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit or just cover the baking tin with a tent of heavy duty aluminum foil. Allow the bread to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes the turn out on a rack to cool.