Mango Upside Down Cake with Coconut Cream

This tropical Mango Upside Down Cake with Coconut Cream is a mouth-watering dessert option! It includes fresh mangoes, mango puree and is served with homemade coconut whipped cream. This delicious dessert is a crowd-pleaser that will have everyone lining up for seconds.

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About this Recipe

This Upside-Down Mango Cake with Coconut Cream recipe is inspired by my love for baking and West African fruits. Mangoes and coconuts grow freely in Nigeria as well as other African countries.

Desserts are relatively new in Nigeria as wheat flour was introduced to the country by the British in the early 20th century. Popular West African flour-based recipes include puff puff, chin chin and meat pie. Although cakes are served on special occasions by the African diaspora and in West Africa, the flavor and recipes tend to be simple as the idea of desserts is still relatively new.

I chose to serve this dessert with coconut cream to go with my tropical West African theme but feel free to serve it with ice cream, whipped cream or plain instead. This recipe ties into Afrofuturism as it shows how West African fruits can be used to make cakes.    

Mango Upside Down Cake Ingredients

Upside Down Mango Cake Base:

• Unsalted butter: Use good quality unsalted butter.
• Brown Sugar: Any brown sugar will work.
• Mango slices: Fresh, ripe mango slices work best for the base.

Mango Upside Down Cake:

• Unsalted butter: Make sure the butter used to mix the cake is at room temperature.
• Granulated sugar: Will be combined with unsalted butter for the cake batter.
• Mango pulp or puree: You have the option to buy canned mango puree or make your own from scratch. I would suggest that you buy mango puree or pulp as the mango flavor and color is more concentrated and gives the cake more flavor.
• Eggs: This will help to make the mango cake fluffy.
• Vanilla essence: For extra sweetnes.
• All-purpose flour: Sift the flour before mixing to remove excess dirt and lumps.
• Baking powder and Baking Soda: Both are leavening agents used to help the cake rise. Make sure they have not expired.
• Pinch of salt: Add a pinch of salt to balance the flavors in the cake.

Coconut Cream:

• Canned coconut milk: Refridgerate canned coconut milk for 1-2 days before whipping.
• Sugar/honey: Add sugar or honey for sweetness.

How to Make Mango Upside Down Cake

1. Start by cutting the flesh of a fresh mango and slice horizontally. These slices are used to make the base of the upside-down mango cake.

2. Then, line an 8″ baking tin and grease it lightly with oil or butter. Next, heat 1/4 cup of unsalted butter and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar in a small pot. Then, pour the mixture into the cake tin and place the mango slices on top of the butter and sugar mixture in a nice pattern.

Tip: Make sure the sugar and butter mixture covers the entire base of the tin evenly.

3. Preheat oven at 160C/320F. Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a bowl and mix. Set aside for later. Then, whisk unsalted butter and granulated sugar in a separate bowl for 5 minutes.

Tip: The mixture should be pale yellow.

4. Add one egg and whisk until the egg is well incorporated. Repeat this step for the remaining eggs and add the vanilla essence.

5. Then, pour mango pulp or puree into the egg and butter mixture. Mix well.

6. Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. Do not over mix the batter, there should still be some lumps in it.

7. Pour the mango cake batter into the tin and smooth it out.

8. Finally, bake the mango upside-down cake for 30 minutes or until done. You can check if the cake is done by sticking a wooden skewer into it. Once it comes out clean the cake is ready. Make sure you leave the cake to sit for at least 5 minutes before turning it upside down and removing it from the tin.

WHIPPED COCONUT CREAM

1. Make the coconut cream as the cake cools down. Open one can of refrigerated coconut milk. Then, remove the hardened cream and add it to a bowl. Set any remaining liquid to the side as you won’t need it for this recipe.
2. Then, add sugar or honey to the bowl and whisk until it thickens and becomes creamy.
3. Finally, serve each slice of mango cake with coconut cream.

Tips and Tricks

• Room temperature ingredients: Use room temperature ingredients to prepare the cake batter. Using cold milk, eggs or butter can affect the rise of the cake.
• Alternatives: If you are not a fan of caramelised fruit then you can make a plain mango sponge cake instead. Skip the base, make the mango cake batter and bake for the same amount of time.
• Mango pulp or puree: You can make mango puree or pulp from scratch however, if the mangoes are not ripe enough you may not get a concentrated mango flavor or the bright yellow color. My go to mango pulp of choice is Kesar Mango pulp.

FAQs

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Mango Upside Down Cake

Jen Sim

This tropical Mango Upside Down Cake with Coconut Cream is a mouth-watering dessert option! It includes fresh mangoes, mango puree and is served with homemade coconut whipped cream. This delicious dessert is a crowd-pleaser that is sure to have everyone lining up for seconds.

4.86 from 14 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: cake, Dessert, Sweet Treat

Keyword: Mango cake, Mango upside down cake, Upside down cake

Prep Time: 7 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Author: Jen Sim

Equipment

• ▢
  1 mixing bowl
• ▢
  Stand or hand mixer
• ▢
  8" or 7" Deep baking tin

Ingredients

Base

• ▢ 2 ripe mangoes
• ▢ 1/4 cup butter softened
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar

Mango Cake

• ▢ 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
• ▢ 1.25 cups (220g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 cup (200g) mango puree or pulp
• ▢ 4 eggs
• ▢ 2 tsp vanilla
• ▢ 2 cup (240g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 tsp Baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• ▢ pinch of salt

Whipped Coconut Cream

• ▢ 1 can Coconut milk
• ▢ 2-3 tsp Sugar/honey

Instructions

• Line an 8″ baking tin and grease it lightly with oil or butter. Then heat 1/4 cup of unsalted butter and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar in a small pot. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and place the mango slices on top of the butter and sugar mixture in a nice pattern.
• Preheat the oven to 170C/340F. Next, beat unsalted butter and granulated sugar in a medium-sized bowl for 5 minutes.
• Then add one egg and whisk until the egg is well incorporated. Repeat this step for the remaining eggs and add the vanilla essence.
• Next, pour mango pulp into the egg and butter mixture. Mix well.
• Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. Do not over mix the batter, there should still be some lumps in it.
• Bake mango upside-down cake for 35-40 minutes or until done. You can check if the cake is done by sticking a wooden skewer into it. Once it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Leave the cake to sit for at least 5 minutes before removing it from the tin.

Whipped Coconut Cream

• Open the can of refrigerated coconut milk. Remove the hardened cream and add it to a bowl. Set any remaining liquid to the side as you won’t need it for this recipe.
• Add sugar or honey to the bowl and whisk until it thickens and becomes creamy.
• Serve each slice of mango cake with coconut cream.

Notes

• Alternatives: If you are not a fan of caramelized fruit then you can make a plain mango sponge cake instead. Skip the base, make the mango cake batter and bake for the same amount of time.
• Mango pulp or puree: You can make mango puree or pulp from scratch however if the mangoes are not ripe enough you may not get a concentrated mango flavor or the bright yellow color. My go-to mango pulp of choice is Kesar Mango pulp.

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