Mango season is in full swing, and the creative juices are flowing! Trying to figure out what to make with mango every year is often a challenge. Often, however, an idea just pops into my head that makes me say “Why the heck didn’t I think of that before!?” That was the case with this mango upside down cake. While I was brainstorming with a coworker on what new things I could try making with mango this year, it just popped into my head. I knew that I HAD to make it, and my brain wouldn’t let me stop thinking about it until I did. My brain knows what it’s doing, because the cake turned out to be AWESOME.
The mango upside down cake recipe makes a 13 x 9 inch pan, but I split it into two 9 inch round pans so that I could share with 2 separate groups of people. Just be sure to split the topping ingredients between the two pans and adjust the baking time accordingly if you will be doing this.
Stir some brown sugar into your pans of melted butter. Spread it around as evenly as you can, and then lay your mango slices on top. If your mangoes are too ripe, you might have some trouble getting clean mango slices like I did. But, do the best that you can. It will still taste great!
Make the batter by creaming butter and brown sugar, then adding the egg. Stir in the vanilla, and add your sifted dry ingredients alternately with mango pulp and milk. Gently spread the batter into your prepared pans, and then bake. Wait about 5 minutes, and then remove the cake from the pan.
Don’t wait too long to unmold your cakes, or you run the risk if the brown sugar hardening. Good luck getting your cakes out of the pan in one piece if that happens.
I was initially kind of disappointed at the lack of height with the cake, until I realized that this meant that the mango topping to cake ratio made it so that the taste of the mango topping really stood out. The buttery, sweet, caramelized mango topping is really what makes this cake stand out, so you don’t want to skimp on that. I prefer mine warm, but it tastes good cold also.
Mango Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
For the topping
- 1/3 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 5 cups mango slices (may be more of less depending on the size of the slices)
For the cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2/3 cup butter
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mango puree
- 1/4 cup milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
While the oven is preheating, place an ungreased 13″ x 9″ baking pan with 1/3 cup of butter, allowing the butter to melt in the pan in the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar, then spread the mixture as evenly as possible around the pan. Arrange the sliced mango on top of the brown sugar/butter mixture and set aside. Sift together the dry cake ingredients.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the mango puree and milk, beating well with each addition. Gently spread the batter over the mango slices in the pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes (25-30 minutes if using 9″ round pans), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake rest on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then loosen the cake from the pan and invert the cake onto a serving platter. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes before serving.
Makes 1 13″ x 9″ rectangle cake or 2 9″ round cakes.