Silver Nutmeg

When I first moved to Lincoln, I didn't know anyone here so I occupied my time with a lot of bike riding, and I signed up to have a table at the farmers' market selling baked goods. I love to bake and thought it would be a good way to see how hard it would be to bake a lot, on a schedule. I also wanted to find out if I would make or lose money doing it. A one-person bakery in super-miniature.

As I recall, I was required to have a name for my stall. I struggled to think of a good one. I had a copy of the Twentieth-Century Children's Book Treasury in which there is this nursery rhyme:
I had a little nut tree, nothing it would bear
But a silver nutmeg, and a golden pear
The King of Spain's daughter came to visit me
And all because of my little nut tree
Silver nutmeg. I loved that. I worked hard at preparing an elaborate sign for it.

I also worked hard baking all Friday evening, after working a full day, and through the night, without sleeping, to get ready for the Saturday market each week. Needless to say, I did not make money if you factor in the cost of labor, but even in ingredients I barely broke even. People go to the market to buy produce and plants. They may stop and buy a brownie to eat while they walk around, but they do not stock up on palmiers, small chocolate cakes and such, to get them through the week. For recipes, I used one of my favorite books for cookies, Chocolate Lover's Cookies & Brownies, with recipes developed by Beatrice Ojakangas, who is one of my favorite cookbook authors. I also used Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies and Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts, two outstanding contributions to cookbookery.

Though it was not profitable, I don't regret the experience. And I had one successful week (my final one, in fact), during the July Jamm festival. That week I decided to do a Muffin Madness sale, and I baked several kinds of muffins. I made chocolate-chocolate chip, bran, low-fat blueberry, cinnamon crumb, and a few others. I piled them in a big heap on the table. This was a huge hit. Wouldn't you know, I sold almost every muffin I made. My favorite one was based on "Yellowman's Banana Lime Bread" from the Caribbean chapter of Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant (by Ned Asta). The muffins had a dense crumb, a strong sweet-tart flavor, and a heavy moistness from the sugar syrup they were infused with. One young woman came by and bought one. A few minutes later she came back and bought every other one I had, sat down on the curb next to me and ate all six more!! That's one kind of small success, anyway. And they are kind of addictive, it's true. Here is the recipe:

Yellowman's Banana Lime Bread

In St. Lucia and Anguilla, I made friends with some local people after repeated visita to the same beaches. I won't forget their great nicknames: Merit, Rah's Bucket, Campbell Soup, Sugar Ray, the Ram, So-Lar, Freakout, Domino, Split, and Gorgeous. This tasty bread is named after Yellowman.

Yields 1 loaf

Batter
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
3 tablespoons milk (or plain yogurt)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted (see note)
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Glaze
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon rum
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter. Stir in the eggs, bananas, milk or yogurt, and lime juice. Add the salt, ginger, and grated coconut and mix well. Sift the flour and the baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix them until smooth. Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pan and bake for an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread for about 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.

Meanwhile, for the glaze, combine the brown sugar, butter, rum, and lime juice in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until it becomes a thin syrup. Pour this glaze over the loaf, spreading it with a spatula or spoon to coat the top and sides. Sprinkle toasted grated coconut evenly over the glazed loaf (blogger's note: I always omit the coconut topping, and I sometimes omit the coconut in the bread, too, but it's better with the coconut in it).

Note: Spread the grated coconut on an unoiled baking tray and toast in a 300 degree oven or toaster oven for less than a minute. Be careful not to let it burn--it's delicate.