Mango tea cake
It is the 2nd week of April already, the Sun is beating down so hard I fear widespread spontaneous combustion. In May if not right away. The worst is yet to come.
But the one thing that makes this weather acceptable has not deigned to make an appearance yet, at least, not in an acceptable, enjoyable fashion.
I am talking about mangoes of course. I see Senthuram in the market place, occasional bounty of Alphonso more expensive than Gold at the moment and indifferent Banganapalli. No Malgoa, no Organic varieties, nothing. Our local mango mandi continues to sell handicrafts pretending it is still March.
The Senthuram quality lurches wildly. The first two were awesome, the third sour, the fourth was spat out my mangophile son. I decided to minimize the risk with the fifth, sixth and seventh.
When life throws poor mangoes at you, make mango muffins! Or if you have run out of cupcake linings and you are too lazy to butter the individual tins, make tea cake :)
First step is getting your better half (remember, honey gathers more flies ;) to peel and dice the mangoes. He will make a substantial headway into the sweeter pieces, but no matter. Grind the remaining mangoes into a lumpy pulp with 2 - 3 pods of cardamom and 2 - 3 tablespoon of yogurt to help the blending process.
Now comes the algebra, every cup of mango pulp requires 2 cups of flour (chapathi flour is fine). Every cup of flour requires 1/4 cup of oil and 1 egg. And about 1/4 cup sugar also. And of course 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp baking powder.
i.e x Pulp needs 2x APF could be aata, maida, or combinations, measurement in cups
x APF needs 0.5 baking soda, 0.5 baking powder measurement in teaspoons
x APF also needs 1 egg
x APF also needs 0.25 sugar, 0.25 oil measurement in cups
optionally 0.5 cups mixed, chopped nuts
and 0.25 cups chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
You can give total volume of batter and then make your child calculate the x you started from. Reward would be the actual baked cake ;)Seriously kidding!
I added some orange marmalade because I have some sitting in the fridge, detested by my kids and because the mango is not its usual sparkly self. (It it were, it wouldn't be made into a cake in the first place)
I added the chips only because I tasted the batter and worried my younger son would complain it is not sweet enough, besides my older one treats all non-chocolate dessert with disdain.
In my case:
1 cup mango pulp
2 pods cardamom (powdered separately and mixed to the pulp and ground with the pulp)
2 cups flour (1 maida, 1 chapathi flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup almonds chopped
1/4 cup cashew chopped
1 tbspoon orange marmalade
1/8 cup chocolate chips (little brat woke up and demanded some of the chips, being a good mother I share in his games)
Sieve the flour(s), baking soda and baking powder together
In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together until light and lemony
Add the oil and continue beating .
Add the mango pulp and flour alternately and mix in gently.
Fold in the orange marmalade.
Fold in the nuts and/or chips if using.
Pour into a 8" round or rectangular pan.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack.
Cut into square pieces.
Serve with ganache or whipped cream or just tea.
But the one thing that makes this weather acceptable has not deigned to make an appearance yet, at least, not in an acceptable, enjoyable fashion.
I am talking about mangoes of course. I see Senthuram in the market place, occasional bounty of Alphonso more expensive than Gold at the moment and indifferent Banganapalli. No Malgoa, no Organic varieties, nothing. Our local mango mandi continues to sell handicrafts pretending it is still March.
The Senthuram quality lurches wildly. The first two were awesome, the third sour, the fourth was spat out my mangophile son. I decided to minimize the risk with the fifth, sixth and seventh.
When life throws poor mangoes at you, make mango muffins! Or if you have run out of cupcake linings and you are too lazy to butter the individual tins, make tea cake :)
First step is getting your better half (remember, honey gathers more flies ;) to peel and dice the mangoes. He will make a substantial headway into the sweeter pieces, but no matter. Grind the remaining mangoes into a lumpy pulp with 2 - 3 pods of cardamom and 2 - 3 tablespoon of yogurt to help the blending process.
Now comes the algebra, every cup of mango pulp requires 2 cups of flour (chapathi flour is fine). Every cup of flour requires 1/4 cup of oil and 1 egg. And about 1/4 cup sugar also. And of course 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp baking powder.
i.e x Pulp needs 2x APF could be aata, maida, or combinations, measurement in cups
x APF needs 0.5 baking soda, 0.5 baking powder measurement in teaspoons
x APF also needs 1 egg
x APF also needs 0.25 sugar, 0.25 oil measurement in cups
optionally 0.5 cups mixed, chopped nuts
and 0.25 cups chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
You can give total volume of batter and then make your child calculate the x you started from. Reward would be the actual baked cake ;)Seriously kidding!
I added some orange marmalade because I have some sitting in the fridge, detested by my kids and because the mango is not its usual sparkly self. (It it were, it wouldn't be made into a cake in the first place)
I added the chips only because I tasted the batter and worried my younger son would complain it is not sweet enough, besides my older one treats all non-chocolate dessert with disdain.
In my case:
1 cup mango pulp
2 pods cardamom (powdered separately and mixed to the pulp and ground with the pulp)
2 cups flour (1 maida, 1 chapathi flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup almonds chopped
1/4 cup cashew chopped
1 tbspoon orange marmalade
1/8 cup chocolate chips (little brat woke up and demanded some of the chips, being a good mother I share in his games)
Sieve the flour(s), baking soda and baking powder together
In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together until light and lemony
Add the oil and continue beating .
Add the mango pulp and flour alternately and mix in gently.
Fold in the orange marmalade.
Fold in the nuts and/or chips if using.
Pour into a 8" round or rectangular pan.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack.
Cut into square pieces.
Serve with ganache or whipped cream or just tea.
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| a nice fine crumb despite 50% whole wheat flour |
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| by the time I got around to photos, only this much was left |
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