It’s the last mango dish for the year! Wrapping up this glorious season with a dessert of course 🙂 This cake is super easy to make but is very different from what you might be used to eating as a mango topped cake 🙂
This cake is lightly spiced with cardamom, which makes it fragrant and delicious. Cardamom & mango pair very well together and the spiced cake is balanced out beautifully with the sweet mangoes (I used Mallika) and the tart, yet slightly sweet, cream cheese frosting. The bits of fresh mint, mixed through, add another layer of freshness and aroma and make this cake altogether fabulous!
The cake is baked like a simple vanilla cake, with the cardamom powder added for extra oomph. Once it is baked & cooled, it is ready for all the decadent frosting.
I like to dice the mango and toss it with mint in advance, letting it chill in the fridge till it is time to finish the cake. This allows the flavours to combine well.
The cream cheese frosting is made by whipping some room temperature cream cheese with honey, milk and vanilla. That’s it. Easy! The honey helps to add to the luxuriousness of this frosting, while still balancing the tartness. Don’t add too much as you still want a slightly tart flavour and also want to be cognizant of the sweetness of the mangoes that will come on top.
You then just need to layer the cake with the frosting, slather it on well. Then top it up mangoes. Et Voila!
I baked this last week, on a whim, since a close friend and her husband were coming to visit me in my new apartment. I’m still setting up, but can’t have someone come over and have nothing home made to offer! Are you as cray cray too? 😛
Since it was a work day, I couldn’t do much cooking, so ordered in snacks and baked this cake. My friends R and A love mangoes, so this was thankfully a hit and I sent a quarter of the cake back with them as well 🙂
This cake is a must try and I hope you get to it before the season wraps up 🙂
Spiced Cake with Mango & Cream cheese
Ingredients
Cake
- 1.5 cups (180g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 100g butter – room temperature
- 1/2 cup (60g) – brown sugar
- 14 cup (50g) – granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
Frosting
- 1/2 cup cream cheese – room temperature
- 3-4 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 large mango – diced
- Few sprigs of mint
Directions
1. Pre heat the oven to 175 and line an 8 inch pan
2. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and cardamom powder, till combined
3. In a larger bowl, cream the butter & sugars for 2 mins till light and fluffy
4. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition. Then mix in the vanilla extract
5. Add milk, alternatingly with the flour mix (flour, milk, flour, mix, flour) till just combined
6. Transfer to the pan and bake for 35-45 mins till it is done and tester comes out clean
7. As the cake bakes, mix the diced mango and mint in a small bowl and keep aside (in the fridge)
8. Once the cake is baked and tester comes clean, take it out of the oven. Let it remain in the tin till it cools to room temperature. Take it out and place it on a plate to prep
9. Make the frosting by whisking the cream cheese till soft and smooth. Then add in the honey, milk and vanilla extract. Pick the honey quantity based on sweetness of the mangoes, your existing sweet-ish cake and the fact that you will want some of the cream cheese zinginess to cut through and really elevate rhe cake
10. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake and then put the mango & mint. Your cake is ready!
My Tuck Box 
Published by