Papaya Coconut Bread

My husband’s grandmother sometimes sends us fruit, which we love, but sometimes I already have a few varieties in my refrigerator and end up with two watermelons, or in this case with two papayas.  With only three of us, including my three year old (as you can guess… she’s no wild about papayas), I had to think of something to make with the extra fruit.  All I knew is I didn’t want to make a beverage out of it.  Then, it occurred to me: Papaya Bread! Can it be done?  I searched and searched for a recipe but none of them “spoke” to me.  Finally, I found a great one from Eat the Love. The original Papaya Bread recipe calls for crystallized ginger and white chocolate, which I decided to omit and I added cinnamon, shredded coconut and nutmeg to the mix.

Now I need to figure out what to do with the 15 oranges I have in my basket!   We’ll probably eat half of them with salt and pepitoria (powdered squash seed)… yum!  Now, what to do with the rest?  No juice, no jam… I’m thinking something baked. I’ll let you know what I come up with!

Papaya-Coconut Bread

Adapted from Eat the Love recipe
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients Cooked Papaya:
1 medium papaya (about 1 lbs)
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Zest from 1 medium lemon
Juice from 1 medium lemon (~2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients Bread Batter:
2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh papaya seeds, ground
3 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup + 2 tablespoons or 1 ¼ stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup natural flavor shredded coconut
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Procedure:

1. Split the papaya in half and scoop out the seeds. Save the 1 tablespoon of the seeds for the bread batter and reserve the rest for another use. Dice the papaya into 1/2” chunks.
2. Place the papaya chunks, brown sugar, butter, lemon zest, and juice in a pan. Cook on medium heat until the papaya chunks start to fall apart, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Remove from heat and puree. (Wait until it has cooled to use your blender.)
3. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and generously spray and flour a 9 inch x 5 inch loaf pan.
4. Place the flours, papaya seeds, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Using a balloon whisk, vigorously stir until uniform in color.
5. Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the butter until light and creamy, about two to three minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides with a spatula between additions. Add the yogurt and vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.
6. Add half the dry ingredients to the batter and beat until incorporated. Add the papaya puree and beat until incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Finally, fold in the shredded coconut.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Be sure to test several areas, as the toothpick may hit a wet papaya chunk area and look not done yet. You don’t want to over bake the loaf.
8. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack, before removing from pan to cool further.

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