Baked mango cake with mango curd and chilli mango jam

This deliciously moist mango cake uses mango puree to make soft sponges of mango cake with a filling of layer of tart, creamy mango puree and topped with a layer of sticky chilli mango jam!

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This cake exemplifies the spirit of #MangoMania. Recently, I discovered a bottle of alphonso mango puree at home. While the puree delicious was by itself, and great in shakes and as aamras, I wondered if it could be in baking – not just as a topping, but a flavour. A lot fruits change their flavour when baked, so it is usually preferable to use fresh fruit while assembling the cake rather than mixing it in the batter. But not mangoes! They retained that wonderful alphonso smell as well as taste. Adding fruit puree to the batter can also be tricky because it its liquidy nature alters the texture, sometimes resulting in a dense, chewy hunk of cake.


I think this cake has a very nice contrast of sweet mango flavours – the cake itself is pleasantly sweet, the filling adds a nice tartness (depending on the amount of lemon juice you add), and the jam adds a nice spicy kick. I was extremely pleased with the flavour in all 3 uses, texture of this mango cake – airy, moist with a soft crumb, as well as the colours – bright yellow cake, a deeper yellow filling, and a lovely glossy orange coat! One thing to remember is that the amount of sugar used should vary depending on the sweetness of the mangoes, especially in the lemon curd.


For me, the real challenge in making a layered cake is always the frosting. I’m not a fan of frostings, because they manage to contain baffling amounts of butter and endless cups sugar. I had only 20g of butter at home, but using a reverse creaming method and adding canola oil not only helped me keep it soft yet buttery, but it also didn’t dry out in the fridge overnight! (Cakes using only butter tend to dry out in the fridge because the butter hardens in the cold.)

This cake is also relatively quick to make and assemble – all in under 2 hours. I baked a single sponge of cake and cut it into 2 layers using a knife. While it cooled, I made the mango curd to spread within the layers, and the chilli mango jam to coat the assembled cake.

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For the mango cake:

Ingredients:
All purpose flour or maida, 1 cup (120g)
Sugar, powdered 3/4 cup
Egg, 1 large
Mango puree, 1/2 cup (equivalent of 2 mangoes)
Butter, 2 tbsp (20g)
Neutral Oil such as canola, 1/4 cup
Baking powder, 1 tsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract, 1 tbsp (do not substitute with essence, leave out if not available)

Recipe:
Prep: Preheat your oven to 165° C / 330° F. Grease your baking mould with butter, coat it with flour and shake off the excess. This will help you remove the cake after its done breaking. Alternatively, use parchment paper.

1. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl – flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Add it to a food processor/mixie with the butter, and pulse till the mixture looks sandy and no lumps of butter remain, like the picture below (which still had a couple of lumps). Don’t whiz it for too long though, else it will form a dough ball.

2. In a bowl, beat together the mango puree and the egg. Add oil and vanilla extract. Whisk for a couple of minutes till it reaches a smooth consistency and the oil is well mixed.
3. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, and whisk till well combined.
4. Add it to the baking mould. If it is a 6 inch round pan, bake it for 30-35 mins. A 9 inch pan will require 22-25 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

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For the mango curd

Ingredients
Mango puree, 1/2 cup
Egg yolks, 2
Sugar, 2 tbsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice, 1 tsp
Vanilla extract, 1 tbsp
Butter, 1 tbsp

Recipe:
1. Whisk in the egg yolks, mango puree, sugar and extract.
2. Heat it on a low to medium flame, stirring constantly till it thickens.
3. Keep going till it becomes very thick, and does not drip from the ladle. It should look spreadable.
4. Do not let the bottom burn.
5. Once it is ready, add lemon juice, salt and sieve it to ensure there are no lumps.
6. Add butter to ensure it remains smooth. It takes only a few minutes to cool to room temperature.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool in the fridge. It will thicken further.

Note: I did not sieve it, add butter or add plastic wrap while cooling in the fridge. I whisked it vigourously to make sure it remains smooth.

For the chilli mango jam:

Ingredients:
Mango puree, 1/3 cup
Sugar, 2 tbsp
Cayenne pepper or chilli powder, 1/4 tsp
Salt, 1/4 tsp

Recipe:
1. Mix all the ingredients and heat on the stove on a medium flame, stirring constantly till the mixture turns into a thick, translucent jam with a reddish hue (depends on how much chilli powder you add).
2. The sugar will liquefy and then bubble as a syrup. Let it thicken, but do not let it burn.


Points for assembly:
1. Remove the cake from the pan only after 20 mins of cooling, else it will break.
2. Cut the cake into layers only after it has cooled in the fridge for 15-30 mins, else it will crumble.
3. Add the mango curd to the cake layers when both are cool or at least room temperature.
4. Add the jam to the cake only when it has reached room temperature. Coat the cake with the jam. The cake absorbs the jam to give a soft, sticky outer layer and also protects the moistness inside.