Upside Down Two Mango Cake. Go cheap, go dry.

Upside-down Mango CakeA while ago, I prepared a fig tart tatin. That worked pretty well for a first attempt. In fact, it worked extremely well. With the enthusiasm of the first time lucky, I decided it would be a good idea to try another dessert. I had a spare mango in the fruit bowl and the tatin success had me thinking of upside-down desserts. 

Naturally, this led me to concocting an upside-down mango cake. As with so many of my forays into unknown culinary country, things didn’t work out exactly as planned. If I wanted to make this a great cake, I should have spent the money and gone for two mangos. So while the cake was pretty good, it was a bit on the dry side. Thankfully, there is a solution for that; whipped cream.

Hardly worth photographing. The ingredients.

Hardly worth photographing. The ingredients.

Ingredients:

  • 110 ml milk
  • 200 grammes of butter
  • 225 grammes of caster sugar
  • 260 grammes of self-raising flour
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 2 eggs
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 teaspoons of brown sugar

Scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod. Add it to the milk and whisk it in with a fork.

Not a very good shot of the seeds being scraped. My excuse: Detailed work requiring two hands does not make for an easy shot.

Not a very good shot of the seeds being scraped. My excuse: Detailed work requiring two hands does not make for an easy shot.

Whisk together the eggs and the sugar until it is nice and light. Soften 15 grammes of the butter and add it to the mixture a bit at a time.

My first action shot. Eggs and sugar beating.

My first action shot. Eggs and sugar beating. Get it nice and light.

Next, add the flour about a quarter at a time. Do likewise with the milk mixture, alternating with the flour.

A nice sloppy end result is desirable (for once).

A nice sloppy end result is desirable (for once).

Melt 50 grammes of butter in a nice pot with the sugar and the lemon juice.

I can take out my mango frustration on the lemon.

I can take out my mango frustration on the lemon.

Pour the resulting mixture into in a lined 9″ cake tin. Feel free to admire my new silicon cake ‘tin’.

This smells lovely. The mix of butter, lemon and sugar is very tempting. It's also very hot.

This smells lovely. The mix of butter, lemon and sugar is very tempting. It’s also very hot.

Chop the mango into nice chunks. Darnation! I should have used two mangos.

One of the benefits of cutting mango is the tasty bits that never make it to the cake.

One of the benefits of cutting mango is the tasty bits that never make it to the cake.

Put the mango in the cake tin. Add the cake mixture.

I REALLY should have used two mangos.

I REALLY should have used two mangos.

Pop this into a preheated oven at 160º C for 35 minutes. I left mine in for 45.

I suspect I could have taken it out earlier. It might not have been quite so dry.

I suspect I could have taken it out earlier. It might not have been quite as dry.

Let it cool. Turn it out on to a rack and remove the parchment paper.

For the last time, I'll mention the lack of mango. Time to think cream!

For the last time, I’ll mention the lack of mango. Time to think cream!

Let it cool. Whip some cream and get ready to serve.

Yep, a good dollop of cream saves the day. That is if dollop = half pint.

Yep, a good dollop of cream saves the day. That is if dollop = half pint.

My verdict on my own efforts. It needed a good dollop of cream but it tasted really good. The lesson from this post: Get the second mango.

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  • Still, it looks great! I got 3 mangoes for £1 this weekend – going to make some pickle very soon! Just need to shop around!

    • You are probably right Nick. I should just spend the money. Sometimes, my own tightwaddedness gets the better of me.

      • Well, it’s a good trait and one I pride myself on, but I guess sometimes it can function to the contrary…

        • It did this time. Though the poor quality mangos have to carry some of the blame (along with my less than perfect baking skills).

  • It still looks delicious, dry or not. And as you say, cream resolves most culinary crises. 🙂

  • At least it didn;t sink in the middle – that’s my latest baking-related issue

    • It was too shallow to sink in the middle. It looked pretty good. It even tasted pretty good, once I had floated it in the cream.

  • Ah, something else to do with my surfeit of mangoes… It looks very tasty, and I’ll be sure to add an extra mango. Or two.

    • How dare you Kate! Goading me with your excess of fine fruit while we languish here in deep winter despair.Thanks for the kind words all the same.
      Best,
      Conor

      • But you can get venison, remember? And I thank YOU for the inspiration, since I’ve only ever made it with pineapple.

        • We had pineapple for dessert last evening. It was as disappointing as the mango…

  • I would have no clue what to do with a mango.
    Seriously.
    Regardless if it tasted good or not, it photographed beautifully.

    • You are too kind in your praise. BTW, I looked at that chicken recipe. It’s no wonder he ate the deep fried banana sandwiches. The chicken looked pretty boring. As my children are wont to say to me “Just sayin…”

  • How lovely! My daughter Charlotte would just love this as mango is her favourite fruit.

    • Then Lidia, you have a parental responsibility to do a proper version of this. I would love to see it done with good mango and some baking skill.

  • Wow this is gorgeous! It doesn’t even seem that difficult. What a lovely mixer you have!

    • Thanks Amanda,
      I think the mixer is about as old as I am. If not, it is certainly a good number of years ahead of my children, both of whom are into their twenties. Like myself, it still functions and makes too much noise.

  • Hallo Conor,
    Mangoes are dirt cheap at the moment in SA (± a £1 for 6 large mangoes), it is middle of the season and they have bright red skins, soft to the touch and the flesh is nearly orange in colour, dripping with sweetness and so much juice that one might suffice to make for a wet cake. Sorry to say but that one of yours look a bit unripe to me, hence the light yellowish colour of the flesh. Still a good effort!

    Regards,

    Willie

    • Thank you Willie for your complete honesty and for making me so jealous of the quality and inexpensive mangos you enjoy. My youngest brother was with us for dinner this evening. He is over here on a trip from his home on Dar es Salaam. He too pointed out the crappy nature of the mangos. I did my best, I had that one in the press ‘ripening’ for 2 weeks before I used it.
      Stay well,
      Conor

  • Good old whipped cream, Conor. Looks a bloody good cake one mango short or not.

    • Too kind by half. If it weren’t for the cream, we would not have had a post.

  • Lots of great pouring shots, Conor, and even a very nice paper removal shot 🙂
    I really like the photo of the finished cake with the cream that seems to come out of a floating jug.
    (Interesting by the way that whipped cream is a lot less whipped than is customary in these parts.)
    I don’t like mangoes here because they are indeed a bit crappy compared to the real thing available in sunnier parts of the world.
    What might also help is to use egg yolks instead of whole eggs to make the cake less dry. Eggs are needed to give the cake structure (hold it together, rise), but the egg whites will also make it drier.
    Good idea to make this cake upside-down, which ensures that the mango pieces (even from just the one mango) will be on top of the cake.

    • Thanks Stefan, All good suggestions. Until I see some spectacularly better mangos, I will not be going to this again.

  • Great baking shots, Conor. I love that there’s nothing a little whipped cream can’t cure.

    • Possibly true that they are great baking shots because, it was not great baking!

  • Conor, I usually don’t make suggestions, because that’s just not me, until now, that is. This cake really does look lovely, and I think if you’d have diced up the mango more, maybe macerated it in a little sugar, or stirred it up with a little jam, it would be a perfect cake. But it also looks delicious with that lovely cream added. And we all need an excuse to add cream!

    • Thanks Mimi, I am always open to suggestions. Particularly when they are as sensible as these. The maceration appeals to me as it would have heightened the mango flavour. The cream covers a 1,000 crimes.

  • You are way ahead of the game…we don’t have any mangos at our market. 🙂 Mangos and cream sound great.

    • Thanks Karen. A good combination, for sure.

  • creamyyyy, fluffy, delicious and tastyliciousssss cake, love it 😀

  • Looks absolutely delicious! I’m currently in South East Asia and I have become addicted to mangos of all types!!! Yum yum 🙂

    • Thanks Conor!

    • We have very limited supply of mango here in Ireland. We have to do the best we can.
      Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words.
      Conor

      • I know I wish there were more about in Ireland! I’m half Irish half Indonesian so the fruit is always a treat when I’m in Asia! I live in good awld co. Clare! Love your blog! I have a food and travel blog over here if you want to take a look and give me some feedback! http://bellasupiana.com/ Thanks have a good day, Bella 🙂

  • This looks fabulous! I live on Kauai (in Hawaii) and we get lots of mangoes here, so I am definitely going to try this!

    • Do try it. Using delicious fresh mango must make a huge difference.
      Thanks for the comment,
      Conor

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