My little granbaby just turned two years old! And she is the SWEETEST THING EVER, and my buddy ♥️
What is a Mimi to do except for make Mimi chicken, and cake? Not just any cake, oh no. Mango cake. With strawberry jam. Make the cake or keep on reading!
Being me, I hemmed and hawed over what flavor it should be. She loves bananas, so that was the first thought. A banana cake with chocolate frosting. No. Banana cake with peanut butter frosting! Maybe a layer of jelly in between… OMG.
Do you ever have those moments where you completely deviate from your plan? Like, full 360? This was one of those moments.
I was so stoked about this banana cake…until I went to the grocery store. Mangoes five for five?! Strawberries two for five?! Yes!! Banana cake with peanut butter frosting became mango cake with strawberry buttercream and mango filling. It’ll be epic, I said. Gluten-free, refined sugar free awesomeness. Yasssss!!!
I don’t know why I decided to zig instead of zag, but strawberry jam in between the layers sounded so much better than strawberry buttercream. So I set to work on that first.
While the jelly was cooking I peeled and puréed the mango. Easy-peasy. Please note, if you’re making this all in one shot, DO NOT chill the mango. Just don’t. I’ll explain later…
Then there was the matter of the cake. The first one was disastrous. I don’t know why I thought I could bake it off for 25 minutes. And if you’re familiar with gluten-free and/or Paleo baking, it’s not like a wheat flour cake where the toothpick comes out all sticky when it’s not done. Nope. Always looks the same. The trick? Gluten-free cakes talk to you.
🤫 Don’t judge me, I am 100% for freaking real right now. The more done they get, the quieter they become. I learned this from the young kid on GBB. I’ll be damned if I can remember his name, but he always listened to his cakes. I thought it was crazy, and then I started listening to my cakes. I just didn’t listen hard enough to this one. Whelp, on to round two.
With a little flour adjusting and 20 more minutes in the oven, it was perfect. The epicness I was hoping for.
Once it all came together I was one satisfied baker. The texture, flavor, everything was just perfect. The only thing I can say is that if you can find a more neutral sweetener that agrees with you, or mango extract, you’re probably going to get a bigger mango flavor. But if not, it’s still damn delicious.
This will make you a four layer mini cake, cutting two 5” rounds in half. Or you can make a single 9” and a couple of cupcakes. Also, you can make the jelly and the cakes a day ahead and fridge them until you’re ready to bake. Awesome, right?
Sold? Ya should be. Let’s bake!
Gluten-Free Mango Cake
Prep time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 45 minutes | Assembly: 10 minutes | Serves: 8-12
Tools:
- Blender
- Measuring tools
- Mixer
- 9” or 5” round cake pan + cupcake tin
- Parchment paper
Jelly ingredients:
- 1 pint strawberries
- 1/4 C honey
Cake Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 C mango, divided
- 2 eggs
- 1 t vanilla or mango extract
- 1 C coconut sugar
- Flours, 1 3/4 C total
- 3/4 C coconut flour
- 1/2 C tiger nut flour
- 1/4 C corn flour
- 1/4 C rice flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 1/2 t salt
Mango Glaze:
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 C mango purée
- 1 t canilla
- 1+ C powdered sugar
Make it!
Prep your cake pans. Trace a circle on your parchment paper and cut it out. Two, if you’re using the small pans. Lightly greased them with your favorite baking spray, or coconut oil, then set them aside.
Start with the jelly.
Core and half your strawberries right into a heavy sauce pan. Add your honey, and turn the heat on now. Just let it do it’s thing, giving it a stir every now and then.
While your jelly is going, purée up your mangoes. This is a simple job made for a food processor or any kind of blender. You just want the mango smooth. Pour it into a mason jar and start on the cake.
In the bowl of your stand mixer put your softened butter, sugar, and eggs and beat until pale. Beat in your mango, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Measure out all of your dry ingredients into a separate bowl and mix until fully combined. I like to give them a couple good whips with the whisk, to make sure that there are no lumps in the flour.
With the mix around low, slowly add in your dry ingredients, scraping down the sides as you go. Since you are working with non-glutinous flours, you can beat it until it is thoroughly combined without running the risk of a tough bake.
Measure about one heaping cup into your small cake pan, two heaping cups if you’re using a large pan. Tap the pan on the countertop to even it out, then pop it in the oven for 45 minutes. Don’t even look at it! Just set the timer and go do something else with yourself. Like finish your jelly.
Jelly. Right. You almost forgot, didn’t you? I stirred and mashed with a fork, just letting the berries cook down, break apart, and thicken. by the time I got to putting the cakes in, the jelly was pretty much done. I popped it into a canning jar, I threw a lid on it, and went back to cleaning my baking mess.
Okay. Easy enough, right? Let’s finish the cake.
When your time is up, pull your cake and let it sit for about 3 to 5 minutes. Run a butter knife between the pan and the cake and turn it out onto a cooling rack.
If you’re using a small pan, and you only have one, take a paper towel to the inside edge, spray/oil again, add your parchment plus a cup of batter, tap and back to the oven for another 45.
When your second cake is done, remove that to the cooling rack and let them sit to cool completely.
At this point you have two choices, wrap the cakes tight and toss them in the fridge until you are ready to put them together, or put them together!
Once your cakes are completely cool, you need to even out the top then split them in half down the middle. I don’t have any special tools for this, I just eyeball it about center and get right down there eye level and hold my knife is flat as possible. You know, the precise way.
Now that you have four layers, you’re going to start to build the tiers. It’s like engineering, with cake!
One of the flat bottoms goes onto your cake plate. A thick layer of your luscious strawberry jam on top. Cake, jam, cake, jam.
I think the hardest part is making sure that your more than likely uneven layers all match back up. Other than that, it’s pretty simple.
Let this all chill, and start putting together your glaze.
Pro tip: keep everything at it room temperature! Yes, I learned this the hard way. My butter was soft, mango was cold. It was lumpy and rather disgusting. Sure, I nuked it for a few minutes and whipped it good and it all came back together, but initially? Gross.
Starting with the butter and powdered sugar, whip it until it is soft and pale. Slowly add in your mango, making sure that you are beating it on high to emulsify the ingredients.
I wanted more of a glaze than an actual buttercream, but feel free to add more powdered sugar to make it thicker and sweeter.
When you’re happy with your consistency, pour or frost your cake. Stand back and marvel at this beautiful masterpiece that is going to make your guests speechless.
If you’re not serving this immediately, go ahead and pop it into the fridge. It can stay uncovered for up to 4 hours without getting weird. If you’re ready to go all ham on this gluten free, refined sugar free, amazing cake, do it!
As always, let me know what you think! If you like it, Pinit! Share it with your friends! Make it for your loved ones.
Happy summer! It will, be well, and love one another. xo – c
Carrie's Cravings 