mango-ginger coffee cake

This morning the Little Pea and I attended a lovely brunch for new mamas organized by our dear friend Nicole (a.k.a. Mrs. Love Party). We realized that there were a few of us with relatively new babies who could use a support group (ourselves most of all), so Nicole thoughtfully got a brunch together at her house.

I made this coffee cake, improvised because I had some over-ripe mangoes in the kitchen that needed to find their purpose in life. They served well - the coffee cake was scrumptious, and I just had to share the recipe (with a nod to Joy of Cooking for the basics)!

mango-ginger coffee cake

Bring your ingredients to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan.

Sift together:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Combine and beat well:
1 cup plain yogurt (I used whole)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp almond extract

Fruit topping:
1/3 cup candied ginger, chopped well
1 1/2 cups mango, cut into small chunks (about 2 ripe mangoes)

Streusel:
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp butter
5 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Blend these ingredients until they crumble. Mix in:
1/3 cup almonds, chopped (optional)

Add the sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture. Mix gently until just smooth. Pour into the pan and distribute the fruit mixture gently over the dough. Sprinkle the streusel over the top. Bake about 20-30 minutes.

Don't try to make this the day before (though you could certainly chop up your ingredients ahead of time if you want to) - this coffee cake is best served fresh. This was great served with a brunch frittata, fruit and hot tea (with entertainment provided by half a dozen squirmy babies). If there is any coffee cake left over, you can warm it up later for dessert with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

happily unproductive

Hello! Happy spring! I have missed this space.

The last few weeks, it seems like every time I sit down in front of the computer at home, I have work to do. I'm loving this part-time work arrangement, but at the same time when I can't cram everything in at the office (which seems to be happening a lot lately), I wind up working in all my spare moments at home.

Hence, not much knitting or blogging going on around here, and not one little bit of designing new things. I do have lots of ideas - lots of fleeting ideas. None of them seem to make it to paper or needles lately. I've got fun exciting things peeping at me out of the yarn stash, singing their wooly siren songs, but I keep putting them off - later, later, just as soon as I get this last thing done...

It's also garden time, and there are also one thousand little green shoots singing their come-hither songs.

But most importantly, walks to be taken and snuggles in the grass with my Little Pea, who is almost ten months old already and quite the excellent little companion for all kinds of wonderfully unproductive activities.

I'm starting to realize that snuggling, going for walks, tickling, laughing, playing aimlessly with things that catch your eye - activities I once thought of as "unproductive" and pure leisure - are in fact quite productive if you're small with new hands and brain cells to test out. How nice for me! I can believe that I'm doing Something Important while doing something that feels relaxing and undirected. Joy!

But truth be told, I sure do miss production. We have a car ride to the mountains and back this weekend, and I'm hoping to put some yarn and needles together and see what happens.

Enjoy your spring weekend!