Fat Friday...

I'mma go right ahead and say that this recipe is good. Sunshine on a rainy day, cold side of the pillow kinda good. It's light, moist, and colourful. It's...it's......bread.

Wait. What? Bread you say? Yep. Or at least that's what Joy calls it. Mango lime bread. And boy is it noice.

Now I'm not one to cause disputes, but to me this was certainly no bread as I know it. Cooked in a loaf tin, yes. But bready? No not really. It was cake. Super-moist, delectable cake that seemed to evaporate from it's tin. Funny that.

Anyway, I'm going to give into persuasion here and continue to call this one bread. Why? Well, not least because bread is eaten at lunch. And sometime breakfast. And frankly, I'd quite like to eat this 'bread' all day long. So thank-you Joy, for giving me the best sandwich alternative around. Goodybye Warburton's, hello sunshine.

INGREDIENTS

I know...it's a lot. But once they're all chucked together, they make the sweetest summer treat - trust me, it's worth it.

First off, preheat the oven to 350°F // GM 4 // 180°C. Grease a loaf tin, dust with flour and shake out the excess. You'll also need two ungreased baking trays...more on that later.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Then crumble in the muscavado sugar with your fingers - ridding it of any big lumps [Fergie wouldn't be very proud]

Whisk together the eggs and oil and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir until thick and incorporated.

Now for the sunshine. Zest the lime and grate the apple. Add them both to the mixture above along with those lovely raisins and drained mango slices [I chopped them up in to smaller pieces].

Once all of the ingredients are stirred in well, pour the mixture into the pre-greased, flour-dusted loaf tin. Now for those two baking trays: to create a little insulation, and stop the cake base from burning, layer two baking trays and pop the filled loaf tin on top of them before putting it in the oven....

Now just bake it for about 1 1/2 hours [I know... I willed it to bake faster but alas, the cake-gods failed to hear me] and bring out when golden on top and cooked in the centre. If the crust begins to brown too quickly, just cover with some foil for the remaining time. Et voila.

If it's refusing to slide out of the tin, just run a knife around the very edges - take care not to slice into it though - severe injuries could occur...

Poor cake. Don't make my mistake and leave the poor guy hanging. Slice it off, eat it up and go in for seconds. Oh wait...that last part I had down to a t.

xxx