Spiced mango jam cake

This recipe also appeared in The Independent.

Creamy, sticky, sweet, sour, fruity, moist, rich and packed full of harmonious spices. This spiced mango cake is a banger! A great alternative sweet treat to try this Easter. It’s ridiculously tasty with ice cream.

serves 6-8 people / VE

5 medium sized mangoes (overripe mangoes are perfect to use for this)

300 grams Sugar

2 lemons, peeled, keep the peel and the flesh
1 teaspoon, baking powder 
½ teaspoon. baking soda
½ teaspoon, ground cassia bark
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom powder
¼ teaspoon, ground cloves
¼ teaspoon, table salt 
170g, brown sugar 
6 tablespoons, unsalted butter 
2 medium eggs 
¼ cup sour cream 
210g, all-purpose flour
9” circular baking tin, buttered a little (with a removable base)

Firstly, make the mango jam. Start by peeling your mangoes and discard the peel. Keep the mangoes in a big cooking pot. Peel the lemon and add the peel and the lemon flesh to the cooking pot. Cover the fruits with all the sugar, and a pinch of salt then heat to a medium temperature, stirring regularly. Keep stirring on a low heat for about 30 minutes, or until you see the rolling boil happening and when the fruit flesh is completely unattached from the core and only the strings are left, be sure to always keep an eye on the cooking Jam as it likes to stick. 

Next, test the jam by dropping some of it on a cold plate, If the jam is running then it will need some more cooking time, if it remains and a thin skin appears on the droplet, it is ready.

But first remove and discard the Lemon rind, lemons and the mango cores with the strings attached to the cores

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Then, in a large mixing bowl, sift the all-purpose flour together with the baking powder and baking soda. Then add the ground cassia bark, ground cardamom powder, ground cloves and salt, mix well and set aside until needed.

Then using an electric mixer (or hand held electric whisk and another large mixing bowl), cream the sugar and butter together until smooth and well combined. Next, slowly add the eggs, one at a time and the sour cream. Now slowly add in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices and then using a hand-held rubber spatula, gently fold into the sugar, butter, eggs and sour cream. Lastly, add in two thirds of the mango jam. Mix the batter until all the ingredients are well combined. Now pour the batter into the lightly buttered baking pan. Gently tap the baking pan on the counter a few times to release any trapped air.

Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes or until done. You can test the cake by simply inserting a knife in the centre, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked all the way through. Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely, then spread a thin layer of the remaining mango jam on to and some fresh mango slices. Serve straight away, otherwise keep refrigerated and eat within 2-3 days.