Mango Upside Down Cake

Once upon a time I used to be a crazy picky eater.

I mean, I wouldn't even try beef and broccoli because it was not traditional "American" fare.

I liked bologna and cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and hot dogs.

I did end up trying beef and broccoli...and I loved it! Now I can't get enough Chinese food. Mmmmm...that sounds good!

I have also expanded my horizons quite a bit in the last 4-ish years.

My taste buds changed when I had Little Butt. For some reason, the moment I gave birth to her, things changed.

That night, in the hospital, I ate steamed spinach for maybe the first time ever.

A couple months after she was born, I ate red onions...before Little Butt, you couldn't have gotten me to even consider eating something with onions in it.

Now that I have given birth to my second baby, Baby N, it seems like I'm all out of whack again.

Food doesn't seem appetizing at all. I find myself realizing at about 3pm that I haven't eaten at all. I just don't want to eat anymore.

But that doesn't prevent me from making yummy things for others in my life.

Today is Cake Slice Baker time! For our last month baking from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman we were given the option to make any cake from the book that we wanted.

I went through the entire book and wrote down about 13 different cake titles. Then I took a poll amongst my family members to decide which one they wanted to try. There were 2 winning cakes. Today I am going to share the first one with you...a mango upside down cake.

I only took one bite of this cake...it went too quickly! My Father in Law didn't want to share. When someone would eat a piece, they always went back for a second piece.

This cake was good. It was sweet, with a nice tropical flavor from the mango. It was sticky and moist. The one bite I got, I really enjoyed.

If you are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers, now is the time! The group is being opened up to new members for the new book we will be baking from.

If you want to join, here's what you do: email Katie with the following info:


Name 
Blog Name
Blog URL 
and email address to appleandspice[AT]hotmail[DOT]co[DOT]uk  with 'New Cake Slice Member' as the subject.

There are a limited number of new spaces available so make sure you jump on this chance quickly. I hope to see you in the group!

Until then, let's talk mango upside down cake!

Start by heating the butter until foaming, then whisk in the brown sugar. Now stir in the rum. (Sorry for the annoyingly blurry picture!)

Pour the brown sugar mixture into your prepared pan, tilting it to make sure the bottom of the pan is completely covered. Then sprinkle the coconut and macadamia nut evenly on top of that.

Place the sliced mango evenly over the top of the nut mixture. Set aside the pan.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Whisk the egg whites until they just come to a stiff peak. Then transfer to another bowl so you can use this bowl again.

Toss the sugar and egg yolks into the bowl (no need to wash it) and beat until light, fluffy and increased in size.

Mix in the lime zest, milk and vanilla.

Then mix in the flour mixture until smooth.

Gently fold in the egg whites...

Then pour the batter evenly over the mangoes in the pan. Bake it up until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.

When the cake is done, immediately invert it onto a cake plate, scraping any bits out of the bottom of the pan if they have stuck on. Allow to cool about 20 minutes.

Slice, serve and enjoy!!


Mango Upside Down Cake
Slightly Adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

For the Topping

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Spiced Rum
• 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, finely chopped
• 2 medium mangoes, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced

For the Cake

• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 6 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Make the Topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with baking spray.
2. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. 
3. Whisk in the brown sugar, turn the heat to low and cook, whisking, for 2 minutes. 
4. Stir in the rum. 
5. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and tilt to cover the bottom of the pan. 
6. Sprinkle the coconut and macadamia nuts over the sugar mixture.
7. Arrange the mango slices on top. 
8. Set aside.

Make the Cake

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, bet the egg whites with an electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks. Transfer to another bowl.
3. Place the granulated sugar and egg yolks in the same large mixing bowl (no need to wash it) and beat on medium high speed until pale yellow and increased in volume, about 5 minutes. 
4. Mix in the lime zest, milk and vanilla.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until smooth.
6. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter.
7. Pour the batter over the mangoes, gently spread the batter evenly with a spatula.
8. Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. 
9. Immediately invert the cake onto a plate, scraping off any bits left in the pan.
10. Let the cake cool about 20 minutes.
11. Slice, serve and enjoy!!

White Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Congo Bars

Can I just say...bad days suck! And bad weeks suck even more!

I don't know about you, but last week was kind of hard for my little family. The Hubble was stressed with school stuff. Little Butt was tired and cranky. I was stressed because I was busy and Little Butt was cranky and The Hubble was stressed. Phew! I'm glad last week is over.

One particularly bad day last week, I decided it was time to turn things around. What is better to cure a bad day than cookies??

Little Butt and I sat ourselves in front of the baking pantry and we decided to search and find out what kind of stuff we had for cookies. We ran into a bag of white chocolate chips. We also found half a bag of coconut. Then I had a light bulb go off in my head when I remembered I had some macadamia nuts in the pantry above us!

I quickly turned to the interwebs to try to research some kind of white chocolate macadamia coconut cookie. I found some, but the cookie just didn't seem to do the combo enough justice. Then I remembered the Congo Bars I made previously.

Then...history was made. I made pretty much the best dessert I have ever tasted. As I doled out the bars to friends over the rest of the week the response I got was awfully consistent. Upon the first bite, the person would chew a bit...the eyes would go wide...and a quiet "oh my God" would escape past the lips of the now enlightened individual.

I will be making these again...and soon. These will put anyone in a great mood and I want to pass on my remedy for a bad day to you.

Follow me...

Grab your ingredients: unbleached all purpose flour, baking powder, golden brown sugar, salted butter, vanilla, eggs, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and coconut.

Take a 13x9 inch baking dish and spray it really good with some of this stuff.

In a large bowl, sift your flour and baking powder.

In a separate large bowl, dump your golden brown sugar and butter together.

Take the back of a large spoon or your fingers and work the butter in until it disappears into the brown sugar.

Next, add your eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Until all the eggs are well incorporated into the batter.

At this point you want to toss in your vanilla, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and one cup of the coconut. Mix it all up together really well.

Dump in the dry ingredients (flour and baking powder) and mix the ingredients in well. I usually end up having to use my hands because the batter is super thick.

Dump the batter into the "greased" baking dish and spread it out evenly. Now toss it in the oven...

After about 15 minutes in the oven, remove the dish and top with the leftover 3/4 cup of coconut, sprinkling evenly. Put it back in the oven...

Until the bars are cooked through and the coconut is nicely toasted, about 15-20 minutes more. Be careful not to overbake. These are cookies but will have the texture of brownies (or blondies) and overbaking is very bad news!

Allow these to cool in the baking dish for about 15 minutes then remove to a cooling rack or serving tray to cool completely. Cut into evenly sized portions (bars).

I will admit that I didn't wait for them to cool completely. I ate them warm. I ate them cold. I ate them for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Enjoy!

Linked to Mommie Cooks.

White Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Congo Bars
Adapted from Bakerella




Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup (10 2/3 Tablespoons) salted butter, softened
• 2 cups golden brown sugar 
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounce package white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts 
• 1 3/4 cup coconut, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into large bowl. Set aside.
3. Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
4. Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
5. Add vanilla, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and 1 cup of the coconut. Mix well.
6. Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.
7. Coat a 13x9 inch pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
8. Bake for 15 minutes; remove and sprinkle 3/4 cup of coconut evenly over the top. 
9. Return to oven for another 15-25 minutes or until top is golden brown and coconut is lightly toasted. Make sure you don’t over bake.
10. Allow to cool; cut into even portions. Enjoy!