The mango season feels incomplete without enjoying some delicious mango cakes multiple times. A few months ago, as I reflected on the cake recipes I had made over the years with mangoes, I realized that I had never tried making a Mango Pound Cake. I began looking for recipes online, but most of them either used mango essence or called for very little mango puree. The use of essence suggests a desire to enhance the flavour because less fruit puree was used. In contrast, the limited amount of puree in some recipes indicated a conscious approach to ensuring the correct texture for a pound cake.
I was visualizing a recipe without the addition of mango essence. Instead, I decided to add more mango puree to enhance the mango flavour and taste in the cake. As I began my trials, I realized that the moisture content in the mango puree posed a challenge. If I could manage this moisture, I could achieve the results I was looking for.
After several attempts, I realized that cooking the mango puree for a while to reduce its moisture made a significant difference. I got convinced and used the cooked puree to make the cake, and this one simple step worked brilliantly.
The Verdict: Imagine a soft, sponge-like cake slice infused with cardamom and bursting with the flavour of your favourite type of mango in every bite. This is a Pound Cake that you would be baking repeatedly due to multiple requests.
I hope you’ll enjoy trying this recipe, and if you do, I’d love to know your experience with it. 🙂
Ultimate Mango Pound Cake with Reduced Mango Puree
It’s an Ultimate Mango Pound Cake that has a rich mango flavour from the best ripe mangoes of the season. This recipe will be a keeper for all time.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups / 196g- All purpose flour/Maida
- 1 tsp- Baking powder
- ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp- Baking soda
- ½ cup / 113g- Unsalted butter
- ¼ tsp- Salt
- ¾ cup/100g- Caster sugar or White powdered sugar (read notes)
- ½ cup / 134g- Reduced mango puree (measured after reduction)
- 2- Eggs
- 7- Cardamom powder from Green cardamoms
Instructions
For Reduced Mango Puree
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Cut two ripe mangoes (medium-sized) in cubes, and make a puree of it by using your food processor/mixer grinder.
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Next, in a nonstick frying pan, cook the mango puree over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. This will evaporate the excess moisture and deepen the flavours.
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After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, cool the mango puree completely at room temperature before adding it to the batter.
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The Reduced Mango Puree can be prepared a day in advance to expedite the cake-making process.
Preparing the Cake batter
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Before I started all the ingredients were at room temperature.
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Prepare a 8” loaf pan by greasing it with oil and place a piece of baking paper at the bottom of the pan.
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Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a bowl, keep aside.
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In a separate bowl whisk butter and sugar, use an electronic hand mixer for better mixing results.
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In between preheat the oven at 180 degree C.
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Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, and whisk well.
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Add the reduced mango puree next and mix well. The mixture might curdle a little bit at this stage after adding the fruit puree, if this happens don’t worry and keep doing the next steps.
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Next, add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches, and whisk well. The batter would be thick which is the hallmark of a pound cake batter.
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Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan, and smooth the top with a spatula.
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Tap the cake pan gently on the kitchen counter a couple of times to release the air bubbles. Bake for 40 minutes. Insert a sharp knife or wooden skewer in the middle of the cake. The cake is ready if the knife comes out clean. If not, bake for some more time, and then check again.
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Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and then run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan and carefully remove the cake. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave it there until it cools completely.
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When cooled, slice, serve, and enjoy!
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Store the rest of the cake slices in an airtight container and keep refrigerated, and consume within 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- The amount of sugar I used for the cake was perfect because the mangoes I had were Alphonsos, which are naturally very sweet. If you’re using less sweet mangoes, feel free to adjust the sugar amount to suit your taste.
- I do not recommend substituting sugar with jaggery powder in a pound cake recipe. Jaggery powder has a distinct flavour that may alter the overall taste of the cake. Additionally, jaggery contains more moisture, which could result in a denser texture for the cake.
- In my recipes, I use 225 ml cups. 1 cup = 225ml.
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