Plantain Chayote Mango Quickbread

If you don’t like to bake, don’t attempt this recipe. It requires a fair amount of preparation, and following a set sequence to complete. Because it’s called a Quickbread doesn’t mean its easily and quickly made! A food processor with grate and shredder attachments make the preparation a whole lot easier!

Plantain and chayote are widely used in various dishes throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. I have never seen either used in breads except on my website. In Jamaican Patois, Chayote is called “Cho-Cho”, so this is a Plantain Cho-Cho bread. I have tried to keep the ingredients as “Tropical” as possible so that the bread can be made using many products that are easily available in the Caribbean and Latin America.  I took my inspiration from the different types of puddings or “Pones” that are made throughout the region, but I also wanted a texture that was somewhere between a “pone” and a cake. The bread is a good compromise! If you are making this in a non-tropical country where Chayote is not available, I guess you could substitute apple or zucchini for the Chayote.The bread is very dense and moist, but not very sweet! If this isn't sweet enough for you, try spreading some Orange Marmalade or Guava Jam on it.

Ingredients

3/4 cups bread flour

¾ cup Durum Atta flour (or whole wheat flour if Durum flour is unavailable)

1/3 cup flax meal

¼ cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

3/4 cup Plantain that has been baked, and mashed

1 tablespoon Tate and Lyles Golden syrup (honey or maple syrup may be substituted)

1 cup shredded chayote

½ cup grated carrot

1/3 cup brown sugar or Colombian Panela

1/3 cup water

¼ cup vegetable or coconut oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup full fat (2%) yogurt ( I use Greek yogurt as it has less liquid in it than ordinary yogurt)

½ cup dried mango, finely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch loaf pan with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Dissolve the brown sugar or Panela in the water, and set aside. If you are using Panela, break the lumps into small pieces before measuring (I use a mortar and pestle to do this). You may have to heat the water so that all the sugar dissolves. If you do this, let the mixture cool to room temperature.
   
   
3. Add the chopped, dried mango to this to rehydrate.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 4. Put the plantain along with the golden syrup in a small chopper, and blend to a paste like consistency. 

5. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, desiccated coconut, flax meal, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cayenne pepper.

6. In a separate large bowl combine grated ginger, lemon zest and juice, baked mashed plantain, shredded chayote, and grated carrot. Add the “sugar water” mixture to this.

7. Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the oil, egg, yogurt, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Change the whisk attachment to a paddle, add half of the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Add the remaining wet and dry ingredients, ending with the dry. The resulting mixture should be the consistency of bread dough (remember this is a bread, not a cake). Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. If the bread starts to take on too dark a color, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit for the last 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove bread from pan and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. I sliced the bread into thick slices ( I used a standard 9inX5in loaf pan, cut each slice 1 inch thick the cut each slice in half). I got 18 servings. The sugar content is approximately 5 grams/half-slice.