Last week I spent a couple days processing the mango bounty from a neighbor’s tree. I can’t be sure how much, but the tree was loaded with several hundred kilos of long sweet mangoes. I think he may have been pretty relieved to have me come and take several grocery bags full, although I don’t think it really made much of a dent in the supply. Fortunately, I purchased a dehydrator many years ago which was a key player in making sure I didn’t end up with a bunch of overripe mangoes. I sliced them and dried them for snacks and also pureed some of them, added some passionfruit juice, and made fruit leather.

Our banana trees are also putting out a lot of fruit. I have one flower that has several mature hands and I *think* is almost ready to harvest. I’m new to banana farming, but they seem nice and plump. The bigger trunk also recently put out a flower which has a bunch more hands. Woo! I cut a hand off the more mature flower stem to see if I can get them to ripen enough to eat (in the bowl in the picture below). If they are good, I’ll harvest the rest. The others have several weeks to go. I’m excited that they are the small red bananas which have a more tart, dense fruit than the Cavendish.

My friend Tim and I share a love of exotic fruit and I couldn’t help but thinking of him when I picked up a beautifully ripe guanabana (soursop) the other day. The guanabana is a relative of the cherimoya and looks similar, but had more pointy, lizard-like skin. The flavor from the soft, white flesh is a tart mixture of pineapple/pear/banana and includes hard, brown seeds among the fibers.

I blended the pulp and put it through a sieve to extract the juice for cocktails and other non-alchy drinks (guanabana juice is delicious with mezcal). As I was gathering up the leftover pulp, I noticed that it was very similar in texture to mashed banana – just a bit more fibrous. So I decided to make a sweet, quick bread out of it – and it worked! Even Switch – who rarely eats anything fruit related – said it was yummy. Here is my recipe for any of you fruit adventurers out there. When choosing the fruit, you want a bright green, heavy one that isn’t too soft or browning. It is ready to use when it has the softness of a ripe avocado.

pan de guanabana (soursop bread)

• 1.5 c guanabana pulp, blended until chunky
• 1/3 c melted, cooled butter
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 1 c whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a loaf pan. Mix pulp and butter. Stir in baking soda, salt, egg, vanilla and sugar until combined. Fold in flour just until moistened.

Bake 45-50 min. Or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Cool, and turn out on a rack to cool completely before slicing.