Friday, September 10, 2010

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.

13 comments:

  1. Oh wow! This looks great. Love the toasted coconut on top.

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  2. Looks A-Mazing!! You just got a shout out on FoodNet's facebook page - way to go!

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  3. Hi Anna,
    That cake was delicious. It was moist and flavorful and the perfect ending to your ladies luncheon of Mediterranean salad with tuna, foccacia and tomato garnish, along with a cup of Earl Grey tea.
    It was also a good thing that I got to taste those perogies from your test kitchen. You know that I was surprised with the recipe for your dough because my own creation turned out to be as tough as shoe leather. Yours were as light as the butter used in the recipe and the filling was true to my memories of my mom's perogies. That dollop of sour cream with a splash of balsamic vinegar was also surprisingly complimentary to the dish. You've given me food for thought and extras for the trip home!
    Ann

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  4. mango is my favorite ...thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  5. Hi Anna, thanks for visiting my blog!
    This cake has an interesting flavor combination. A few of them are my favorite! -mango,coconut, and macadamia nuts.What a clever way to finish off the mango you had. It looks so moist!

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  6. HiTanantha,

    Thanks,they are also some of my favorite ingredients. After all, how can you go wrong with tropical flavours, they just seem to bring out the sunshine.

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  7. Hi, Thanks for dropping by. It was my pleasure sharing my little experimental recipe with you. Mango is also one of my favourites. A bit of the tropics in every bite.

    Anna

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  8. Ann,
    Thanks for the lovely visit,and redeeming my perogy honour. I guess I will be able to attend the Montreal Ukrainian Festival,held this week-end, without fear of being stoned for serving my perogies with sour cream and balsamic reduction. Anyway,in my defense being Italian allows me some artistic licence. After all it's not one of the traditional dishes that I grew up with. So thanks for giving me your Ukrainian stamp of approval.

    Anna

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  9. HI Peter,
    Thanks so much for the heads up on the Food Network's facebook mention. Nice way to start the week-end. Once again, thanks for your comments. They are always so uplifting.

    Anna

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  10. Anna,

    The cake looks awesome! My brother is crazy over mango and I am going to bake this cake for him the next time he come visit me:D thanks so much for sharing the recipe! Great pic too.

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  11. Hi,
    Thanks, it was a pleasure sharing the recipe, especially when I have such lovely comments. Also, thank-you for signing up as a new follower.
    I would also like to mention that it was a nice surprise to have your husband comment on the perogy posting, and sharing his memories of Chicago. Please tell him that one of my next posts will be photos of the Ukrainian Festival held in Montreal,Canada this past weekend, and of course plenty of perogies were served.

    Anna

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  12. A great combination of tropical flavors in this cake with luscious frosting. The photo alone is edible. Nicely done!

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  13. Hi Cristina,

    Thanks so much for the lovely comment. I'm happy you enjoyed the post. Hope to see you again on the blog site.

    Anna

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