Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Birthday Mango Cream Cake

mango cream cake

I have just gone through some of the recipes I made but have not published on this blog yet. And I am now torn between blogging about something new or something old. I guess it won't really matter to you, so here's what I made last week for OCT's birthday. A Mango Cream Cake. Mango cake holds a special place in our household. We don't normally bake it because of the lack of good sweet mango here. And I also can't seem to find a reliable recipe on mango cake. The only time it graces our dining table is either OCT or my birthday.

These are time when I am more adventurous and not stress about the outcome. Unlike baking cakes for friends' birthdays when I have to pray hard for the cakes to turn out well. Luckily most of them request for chocolate cakes, which I am quite competent now. Our birthdays, as it turns out is the best time to experiment. To be fair, I did ask OCT what cake he wanted for his birthday. The answer was consistent all the time, and he said he only wanted mango cake. Even if there's a possibility of having an "inedible birthday cake". You can probably tell that OCT is quite a mango aficionado now.

With that in mind, I started to creat one cake based exclusively on trial and error. With the exception on the cake base. I used a base I had tried with good result before. Strictly speaking, I only need to get the mango cream filling and topping right to fulfill my husband's birthday wish. Even if it turned out miserable, I guess we can still scrap out the yummy cake base to eat.

mango cream cake


Because I wasn't sure how much filling I would need, I ended up making a lot more than required. As a result, the birthday cake turned out having a bulging top.Maybe if I didn't try to be creative and used lady fingers to line up the pan and dropped in a can of lychee, there would be more room for the mango cream. But both the lady fingers and lychee proved to be worthy for the space they occupied. They just added so much interesting flavors to the cake.

For the decoration, I initially wanted to pipe "happy birthday" only. But then I melted too much chocolate and I didn't want to waste it. So it ended up on the cake, as you can see in the picture below. I simply pipe whatever I could think of. And the result was a casual and messy cake. I probably would have made the cake more formal and piped "OCT" instead of "Baby" if we invited other friends. But since it's just the two of us, I guess I can call him whatever I want. :)

mango cream cake

Before OCT was home, I tied the cake with a satin ribbon, so it would look like a present. I feel rather guilty for not getting him anything because he always shower me with gifts on birthdays and anniversaries. Anyway, he said he wanted no present and a low key birthday. So I guess I have to grant the birthday boy his wish!

Mango Cream Cake

I am also submitting this mango cream cake as my entry for the latest edition of "Waiter, there's something in my....Layered Cake", which is hosted by Andrew of Spittoon Extra. Be sure to check out the round up later on Andrew's blog.

Mango cream cake


Mango Cream Cake

For the cake
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks(10 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

For the filling and topping ***(see note below for suggestions of the amount of ingredients used)
About 2 pounds of mango flesh
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
sugar to taste
2 packets of gelatin powder
1 can of lychee in syrup, with lychee drained and roughly chopped; reserve syrup

lady fingers
melted dark chocolate

To make the cake base,
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter two 9x2 inch round cake pans, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms of the pan with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on baking sheet.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in
a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the yolk, beating for one minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alernately with the buttermilk. adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes,rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cook for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

To make mango filling and topping,
Puree mango flesh with some sugar syrup from canned lychee. Taste and adjust sweetness accordingly.Pour out the pureed mango into a large bowl.

Sprinkle 2 packets of gelatin powder with 1/4 cup of sugar syrup from the canned lychee. Heat the mixture in microwave for 30 seconds until the gelatin solution dissolves and turns clear. Leave to cool slightly.

Using a stand mixer with whip attachment, beat whipping cream until stiff.

Slowly dribble gelatin solution into pureed mango.Stir to mix well. Set aside 1/2 cup of mango mixture in another medium bowl for topping. Fold some whipped cream into the remaining mango mixture to lighten. Continue to fold the remaining whipped cream thoroughly but lightly into the mango mixture.

To assemble
Carefully place one cake layer on the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan or a cake ring. Brush the top of the cake with some sugar syrup from canned lychee. Scatter the chopped lychee on top of the cake.Brush one side of the lady fingers with the same syrup before lining them on the sides of the ring. Brushed side facing inward.

Carefully pour in the mango cream and top with the second cake layer. Brush the top with syrup. Pour the rest of the mango cream on top.Followed by the reserved topping.

Chill overnight before decorating.

***Note: you will have way too much mango cream using the above recipe.1 cup of whipping cream and 1 packet of gelatin powder, with the same amount of mango flesh (2 pounds) should yield a more intense mango flavored cream. Having said that, I have not tried out this combination yet.

38 comments:

  1. wow! Mandy this is such a lovely cake. It looks pretty special especially with the ribbon on it :)

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  2. Anonymous5:54 AM

    That's looks too yummy for words!!! Wow. Pure heaven. Will make this as soon as the occasion arrises. Mangoes and lychees and oodles of cream can't go wrong...

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  3. Old or new doesnt matter , the cake looks fabulous.Specially love the little chocolate drawing you u've done on top.So cute :D

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  4. Anonymous7:57 AM

    Mangoes are my favorite fruit. I can wax poetic about it all day. That mango cream cake looks so scrumptious and the mango filling/topping itself sounds really divine!

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  5. What a wonderful cake!! I have a new-found love for mangoes, so this cake sounds amazing!

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  6. That looks fantastic! I've never really baked with lychees although I enjoy eating them, I should give it a try.

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  7. Your mango cake is a beautiful entry for the event. Great photo too!!!!

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  8. This looks so good--possibly good enough to make me change my opinion on mangoes!

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  9. Mandy, I love mangoes (they're a hit here) and this cake is pure heaven!

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  10. looks great, what special birthday cake, good use of mangoes

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  11. What a lovely birthday cake!

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  12. I spent at least a few minutes looking at the pictures....*sigh* this is one of the loveliest cake I've seen in a while. The mango cream sounds sooooooo delicious. I was literraly drooling over the pictures so my husband offered to buy me an ice cream cake.....poor substitute for this one I think!

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  13. this must be one of the best mango cakes I have seen! *Drool*. You gave done a GREAT job!

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  14. wow, what a yummy birthday cake! I love mangoes too! I like the way the mango filling flowed over the sponge fingers! makes it soooo delicious!

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  15. Great photos ... yummy looking cake. *Drroool*

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  16. Mango Cream Cake!!! Too good to be true. This is a lovely cake and your hubby got the best gift ever! I'll be saving this recipe to try out when I get back my kitchen! Thanks for sharing!

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  17. Mandy, this mango cream cake truly has the WOW factor! Lucky OCT!! I will have to try this out when mangoes are in season!

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  18. Anonymous1:17 PM

    wow! very nice lovely cake you had made. better looking then the professional one. i used to bought the mango cake at new york city chinatown. not as good as yours. i like with the brown ribbon and lady fingers. love your blog. do you have any idea about chocolate tiramisu? any recipe i can get. want to surprise my boy friend. kind like mango cake but tiramisu. thank you so much

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  19. Anne,

    ribbon=present! ;p Since I didn't buy anything for OCT.

    jennie,
    agree! And I just gained another 5 pounds eating almost half of the cake. :(

    kate,
    thanks!

    veron,
    I wish I could pass you some. The cake was too huge for just the two of us!

    tarah,
    yeah!

    deborah,
    thanks!

    brilynn,
    I love the lychee layer in the cake. It was so good~

    valli,
    thanks sweetie!

    jim,
    I really hope so. :)

    patricia,
    yeah, another mango lover! We should be neighbors!

    courtney,
    thanks!

    little corner of mine,
    thanks!

    nabeela,
    your husband is so sweet! When I drool over a picture, all OCT said was "why don't you make it yourself?" :(

    anh,
    thank you. I am blushing already!!!

    happyhomebaker,
    I was too stingy to throw some away, so I ended up pouring all onto the cake. ;p

    paw paw,
    thanks!

    monique,
    you are most welcome! let me know how it turns out for you if you try!

    Carol,
    thanks!

    anonymous,
    I have a Tiramisu cake recipe under my recipe index which is quite chocolatey.

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  20. Many, it looks delicious.
    I tried to make two birthday cakes in my life, fist one was real failure (it came out too hard to cut) so for the second time I made ice cream cake, it was delicious. I will try your cake next year from my step son's birthday.
    Thank you for sharing, Margot

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  21. Oh my goodness, Mandy! What a fantastically beautiful cake! I hope OCT had a lovely birthday, and I bet he was thrilled with his special Mango Cream Cake...what a perfect gift, made with lots of thought and care and given with love. :-)

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  22. This cake looks absolutely amazing! I love mango so much! I just got back from Thailand and have been longing for mango. Thanks for sharing this!
    The photos are amazing as well:)
    Check out my Travel Blog!

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  23. this is sooooooooo beautiful!

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  24. What a wonderful blog!

    Mango Cream Cake. Those three words sound as good as "I love you" to me right now. I have had Mango Cream scones which have floored me; this sounds like it would be like that, but...on crack or something.

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  25. margot,
    I think I will make a ice-cream cake next year. So much easier and equally delicious.

    belinda,
    he likes it, but we couldn't finish the cake by ourselves and ended up throwing quite a bit away.

    ashley,
    thanks!

    Terri,
    thanks!

    cakespy,
    mango cream scone? wow, I must make that someday.

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  26. Hi Mandy.. thanks for your recipe. I was inspired to make this cake when I saw yours. Pls. check out my blog for my take on this cake.

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  27. Wow awesome cake.. cant wait to make it!

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  28. Hello there!

    I made this cake from your recipe for my mom's birthday tonight (it was the end of a Korean BBQ birthday dinner). It was a gigantic hit! I used canned mango puree instead of making my own, it was a nice time saver, I don't think I compromised any of the taste, just had to guesstimate on quantity though.

    I do have a suggestion regarding the use of lady fingers to ring the cake. We found them to be dry, and incongruous with the moist and yummy cake and mango filling. I did have quite a bit of lychee syrup left over. I am definitely going to make this cake again, and after the cake is assembled, I will drizzle the remainder of the lychee syrup directly onto the ladyfingers. I hope this will soften them, also give them a delicious complementary flavor.

    Either way, the cake was delicious, fairly easy to make, and just a wonderful meld of lovely flavors! Thank you for the beautiful pictures, very inspirational!

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  29. Mandy is your name yes?
    That cake looks absolutely delicious!
    I'm a newbie to your blog, but i'm sure sure that once i search through your blog, there will be alot more recipes to enjoy :)

    I have 5 upcoming birthday's and their favourite fruit is mango.
    The perfect occasion for a perfect cake!

    Thankyou so much ^_______^ !!

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  30. I happened to hop on to your blog as I was searching for a Mango Cake recipe. This looks SO GOOD!!

    You have a great space here. Will keep checking back!

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  31. I happened to google for a mango cake recipe - since a friend mentioned that she had the best cake - mango cake with cream, in canada. Im definetly going to try this today - crossing my fingers that it will turn out well. btw, whats ladyfingers? Guess i have to just omit that from the recipe.

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  32. Anonymous6:14 AM

    I don't really know how to measure flour by cup ...
    can use grams ?

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  33. I not sure how to measure e.g " 1 cup of flour " is there other method? e.g grams .( 140g) ?? reply asap . thankyou(:

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  34. WoW! looks so delicious. .=)

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  35. Anonymous10:32 PM

    Hi. I'll be making this cake next week. I'm just wondering if I could use mango puree instead of mango flesh? Would it work? Thank you very much!

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  36. Nancy1:12 AM

    Hi Mandy...Wow the cake looked amazing...so I made it for a friends Birthday. I followed your receipe to the t, and yet my cake barely rose. It ended up heavy and too small..about half the size of your picture. After much debate, and expense have deceided to redo the cake part, and use the filling. Hopefully that will work! Have already spent 2 hours, and now have to start over. Hope others have better luck~!

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  37. Nancy1:16 AM

    Hi Mandy..Wow the cake looked amazing so I wanted to make it for a friend. I followed your receip to the "t", however the cake ended up not rising, and very heavy. All my ingredients were new, and I don't know what went wrong,,,but have spent 2 hours so far, and have to go to bed to work in the morning....Guess I'll just have to buy another cake...Any suggestions?? Has anyone else actually made this cake?

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