With summers passing us by now, and few rains every couple of days, mangoes, the summer fruit king is almost saying good bye to the season. So we made this Mango Layer Cake, to celebrate their appearance this year. We also made a lots of frozen treats too; mango ice cream {sadly, that didn’t make it to here} and this super easy mango & pistachio frozen yogurt.
We get numerous varieties of those saffron colored fleshy summer treats here. Although, many more other countries are familiar to the Alphonso variety, it is the Langra variety which rules my heart. Their slightly piquant and amazingly sweet flavor, is something which I wait for, every year. And the sad part is that they appear only for a very short time, mostly in the month of July. To me, Alphonso have got some very good color to show off. But I am not a fan of that. And the other sad thing about them being so famous, is that they are the most expensive mangoes one could get.
So, I prefer others which are easy to get and yet taste so amazingly like Kesar, Safeda, Langra & Chaunsa. These are some of the best dessert treat one could get on a summer day, anytime during the day. I like eating mangoes the way they are, but I wouldn’t mind experimenting with them either. So I thought of making a layered cake inspired from my lemon curd & blueberry gateau. Soft vanilla butter cakes layered with whipped cream, fruit curd and loads of fresh fruits, a true summer celebration. And this mango layer cake also follows the same summer theme. The sweet and sour mango curd tastes amazing, paired with whipped cream. It just adds to the lusciousness of this simple recipe, which could be enjoyed during afternoon tea or as dessert after dinner.
- 2 large eggs, separated at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/8 tsp lime juice
- 500 gm mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- Pinch of salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- 1 cup double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 mango, peeled, pitted, cubed into 1/2-inch pieces
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Butter and flour two - 8 inch round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease and flour parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
- In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the lime juice and continue beating until soft peaks form.
- Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops.
- Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan and let cool completely on the wire rack.
- Puree mango, sugar, lime juice and salt in processor, scraping down sides of work bowl occasionally.
- Add yolks; puree 15 seconds longer. Strain through sieve set over large metal bowl, pressing on solids with back of spatula to release as much puree as possible. Discard solids in sieve.
- Set metal bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); whisk puree until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from over water. Whisk in olive oil.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Whisk together all the ingredients for whipped cream except mangoes, until soft peaks form.
- Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with about 1/2 cup of mango curd. Next, spread about half of the whipped cream on top of the mango curd, followed by half of the chopped mangoes.
- Place the next cake layer, top of the cake facing down, onto the filling. Repeat the layer 1/2 cup of mango curd, remaining whipped cream and remaining chopped mangoes on top of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.