Mango Cake with Creamy Frosting

This is going to sound quite familiar as history repeats itself. Remember how I came about my pineapple-mango sorbet?  Once again, I bought a beautiful large mango with every intention of making salsa to accompany some crab cakes.  Well, at least the crab meat in the can has a longer expiry date than the fruit. Out of desperation, I had to come up with a way to incorporate the mango into a recipe. Thank goodness a light bulb went off, and I decided to adapt one of my banana cake recipes to incorporate one very ripe mango. I figured what the heck, nothing ventured nothing gained.  With the idea off and running, and realizing that autumn is just around the corner, why not go for broke, and try to hold on to the last vestige of  summer, through my recipe. So, in an attempt to capture the total tropical flavour, I added macadamia nuts and toasted coconut flakes to the mix. To my amazement, the cake turned out quite moist with a mild mango taste, and a lovely crunch from the macadamia nuts.  The creamy frosting, topped with toasted coconut flakes speaks for itself. Anything with 35% cream has to be a hit.


Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup mashed mango pulp (1 large mango)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, macadamia nuts, and salt.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs, sugar and butter, sour cream and vanilla. Beat the ingredients until  a smooth consistency. Whisk in the mashed mango. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and beat to combine. 
Pour into to two 8" prepared cake pans and bake in a pre-heated 350ºF oven for 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cakes on a wire rack and ice with the creamy frosting and garnish with the toasted coconut flakes.

Creamy Frosting
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup soft butter
1/2 cup 35% cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup  toasted coconut flakes for the topping


In a mixing bowl add the icing sugar, the butter, vanilla and beat with an electric mixer, while adding the 35% cream. Beat until smooth.