I need to confess something to you…I have a terrible compulsion whenever I see fruits and veggies that I like on sale. I tend to buy entire crates of them. What it is moves me to buy enough produce to feed all of the Wayans family when I am a woman living alone in a pre-war apartment with a tiny kitchen? No clue. Inevitably, the items begin to turn before I have a chance to actually do anything with them and I've essentially wasted money and food, two things that were treated like cardinal sins growing up in my house. Such was the recent case with a crate of mangoes I brought home last week. A whole crate of mangoes.
This happened to be a reeeeeaaaally sweet bunch of mangoes, so my wheels got to spinning. I decided I wanted to make a mango upside down cake. Thing is, I had only watched people make pineapple upside down cakes. I figured I would consult a few recipes before crafting my own. After much careful research and experimentation, I came up with a winner.
MANGO UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
TOPPING
- 2 large ripe mangoes either diced into small cubes or sliced into julienne-like slices
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
CAKE
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1-2 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 2 vanilla beans
- 1 tablespoon dark run
- 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick of butter, softened at room temperature
- In a cast iron skillet, mix together 4 tablespoons butter and the dark brown sugar over medium heat. Allow them to melt until the mixture is bubbly and your sugar is completely dissolved. (NOTE: I usually like to put the butter in first so that the brown sugar doesn't burn or cook too fast over the heat. Depending on how hot your stove gets, you may need to turn it to medium low.)
- Toss your mango into the pan and allow the mixture to coat the pieces. Remove from heat before the fruit begins to cook. You don't want it to become a compote.
- Arrange your fruit in the bottom of the skillet as nicely as you can.
- In a medium bowl, mix together your dry ingredients, (flour, cake flour, salt, baking powder)
- Using an electric mixer, in a separate, larger bowl cream together the remaining butter and the turbinado sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Slice your vanilla beans open lengthwise and scoop out the insides with the tip of your knife. Mix the vanilla and rum to your sugar/butter mix
- Now to add your eggs to the creamed butter sugar mixture, you're going to want to add them one at a time until they are completely mixed in with the butter and sugar mixture.
- Once the eggs, butter, and sugar are mixed together nicely into a fluffy, delightful blend, you are going to alternatively mix in your dry ingredients and milk. NOTE: This is NOT a step to rush through. Your batter will be either too lumpy if you add all of the dry ingredients at once or too runny if you add all the milk in at once. Pour a little of one, let it blend with the batter, then add the other. It's probably a good idea to turn your blender down to a lower speed to make sure you reduce the chances of batter splatters all over your kitchen.
- Pour your completed batter over the candied mangoes in the the cast iron skillet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35- 45 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for 8-10 minutes.
- To remove from the pan, run a thin knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan.
- Place a cake plate on top of your pan, flip both upside down to remove the cake from the pan. If any of your mango pieces are stuck in the skillet, simply replace them before slicing and serving. Cake is best eaten while warm. Small slices though, it's summertime and we have to KEEP IT CUTE!
Live everyday as if it were your last!
- the Cute Cook
