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Orange-Mango Upside-Down Cake

April 5, 2012 by Mariel Goodson 31 Comments

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Mariel here. While my family isn’t particularly religious, we’ve always celebrated every holiday with a certain degree of religious zeal. When I was little, there were nearly as many decorations and preparations for Easter as there were for Christmas. We had an Easter tree flaunting hand-blown eggs that we painted on our front porch (my ears still hurt from rocketing the yolk out of those things); we awoke on Easter morning to bunny-themed gifts and tchotchkes; my parents arranged a full-tilt, no-holds-barred basket hunt whereupon one of us ALWAYS ended up in tears, swearing the grown-ups purposely made our basket the hardest to find; and my mom went all out with the Easter brunch, prepping days in advance for a meal that lasted approximately 20 minutes before we bolted out the door high on cocoa bunnies.

I’d be lying if I said my childhood saw the last of my egg-hunting days since both my mom and mother-in-law have orchestrated hunts for us adults. It’s still fun, it’s still wildly competitive and one of us still ends up on the verge of tears claiming favoritism.

This year, the holiday is looking far more civilized however. My mom will be out at the family beach house prepping for the summer season ahead, and my husband and I will be rifling through a shipment of family furniture from a storage unit in Philadelphia in the hopes that there’ll be enough to furnish at least a few corners of our new house in the ‘burbs. My stepmom and dad have kindly offered to host us for Easter dinner and since my stepmom is bearing the brunt of the cooking burden, I’m somewhat off the hook this time around. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t inspired to whip something up.

With a cornucopia of oranges and mangoes verging on the cusp of over-ripeness, I scoured the internets for a recipe that screamed springtime. As luck would have it, I came across this cake from a January 2002 issue of Gourmet. According to the comments, the cake in its original form was a tad too sweet, but I liked where the dish was going so I decided to use it as a base. I swapped out the mango nectar (which is pricey and can be hard to find in some areas), in favor of tart orange juice to add a dash of acid. I also cut the sugar content in both the cake itself and the topping allowing the fruit to shine through.

There is nothing about this cake I didn’t like. It’s as gorgeous to behold as it is to eat. I suggest using Champagne mangoes if your grocer has them – these yellow-skinned beauties are smaller and tarter than their jumbo size sisters, but their slight sourness brilliantly complements the sweetness of the cake. It’s the perfect finish to a sunny Easter day – even if the weather decides not to cooperate.

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Orange-Mango Upside-Down Cake
Serves 8-10
Adapted from a recipe in the January 2002 issue of Gourmet

Ingredients for the Topping:
2 firm-ripe mangoes, peeled (I prefer Champagne mangoes, which tend to be a bit tarter and less fibrous) – $3.50
¼ stick (4 Tablespoons unsalted butter) – stock
¼ cup packed light brown sugar – stock

Ingredients for the Cake:
1½ cups all-purpose flour – stock
1 teaspoon baking powder – stock
¼ teaspoon salt – stock
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened – stock
¾ cup granulated sugar – stock
2 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk – stock
1 teaspoon vanilla – stock
½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (I juiced two medium-sized tangerines, but store-bought OJ would work) – $1.78
Grand total assuming well-stocked kitchen: $5.28
Cost per serving: $0.52

Directions for the Topping:
1. Slice mangoes lengthwise and remove flesh from the halves using a spoon. Cut into half-inch slivers. Be sure to extract any excess flesh from the pit, since that’ll be usable too.

2. Melt butter over med-low heat in a small saucepan. Once melted, stir in the brown sugar and simmer (stirring occasionally) until the sugar is incorporated and you’re left with a thick paste, about 2 minutes.

3. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan and spread the butter/sugar mixture. It won’t coat the entire surface, but spread as best you can. Arrange the mango slices on top in whatever pattern you think is prettiest. Set aside.

Directions for the Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the 2 whole eggs and one egg yolk one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

4. Reduce speed to the lowest setting and add half of the flour mixture stirring until just combined. Pour in the orange juice and stir, then add the remaining half of the flour mixture. Finish stirring by hand to avoid over mixing.

5. Spoon the batter over the arranged mango slices in the cake pan – being careful not to disturb your lovely arrangement – and spread the batter evenly. Bake for 47-50 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

6. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife along the edges of the pan, invert onto a platter and continue cooling. Serve at room temp (with ice cream, if desired).

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Filed Under: Breakfast & Brunch, Holidays, Recipe Index, Recipes Under $5, Sweets & Treats Tagged With: Baking, breakfast, cake, cooking, dessert, easter, food, mangoes, recipes, recipes under $5

About Mariel Goodson

The daughter in this mother-daughter duo, Mariel is the co-founder of Brass Hill Design and a former magazine writer who has contributed to Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens, SELF, Redbook and Good Housekeeping, among many others.

Comments

  1. Blog is the New Black says

    April 5, 2012 at 8:24 am

    Not only does this look amazing, but I LOVE mango!

    Reply
  2. recipeland says

    April 5, 2012 at 11:05 am

    Gosh, this looks absolutely delicious, my mouth is watering just by looking at these “yummy” photos. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  3. Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe says

    April 5, 2012 at 11:55 am

    This looks ridiculously lovely, and so tasty! I love the use of mangoes, and the addition of orange. Springtime indeed! If only it hadn’t just snowed a foot overnight…

    Reply
  4. sara says

    April 5, 2012 at 11:55 am

    Totally gorgeous! This cake looks insanely good. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Regina says

    April 5, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    Oh, now look what you’ve done. I can’t decide, chocolate or vanilla ice cream?
    Regina

    Reply
  6. Lindsey @ Gingerbread Bagels says

    April 5, 2012 at 3:44 pm

    What a gorgeous cake!! 🙂 It sounds and looks sooo good. I wish I had a big slice right now or actually the whole entire cake!

    Reply
  7. Kathy - Panini Happy says

    April 5, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    This is such a gorgeous cake!!

    Reply
  8. Katrina says

    April 5, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    That looks beautiful and delicious!

    Reply
  9. Krista says

    April 5, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    Beautiful! When I saw it earlier I just had to share it. I love gorgeous cakes that don’t require a whole lot of time but look like you spent all afternoon making it! Happy Easter!

    Reply
  10. Mandy - The Complete Cook Book says

    April 6, 2012 at 9:34 am

    What a beautiful cake!
    🙂 Mandy

    Reply
  11. Liz says

    April 6, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    WOW! Gorgeous for sure! And what a great Easter dessert! Have a fabulous holiday~

    Reply
  12. Jen @ The Scrumptious Pumpkin says

    April 8, 2012 at 11:13 am

    This is beautiful. I love mangoes, so I can’t wait to try this!

    Reply
  13. Barbara | Creative Culinary says

    April 8, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    This is gorgeous! I’m not in love with mangoes but this might change my mind because I am in love with almost anything baked in butter and brown sugar!

    Reply
  14. Rhonda says

    April 9, 2012 at 12:03 am

    What a bright and cheerful Easter cake! I’m with your parents..my older kids still have to hunt eggs, oh what fun!

    Reply
  15. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says

    April 16, 2012 at 12:33 am

    Love this twist on traditional pineapple upside down cake — I could easily trade pineapple with mangoes. YUM!!

    Reply
  16. lynn @ the actor's diet says

    April 25, 2012 at 12:21 pm

    i have never made an upside down anything (not much of a baker) but this is truly stunning.

    Reply
  17. Linda says

    July 7, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    My husband has a friend with tons of mango trees on his property and he lets him come pick what he wants, so I checked pinterest for any mango desserts and found this one. Just made it tonight, and it came out perfect and everyone loved it! I will make this again!

    Reply
    • feastonthecheap says

      July 8, 2013 at 9:23 am

      So glad to hear that! And I’m jealous your husband’s friend has such a surplus of mangoes, they’re my absolute favorite

      Reply
  18. Neshmia says

    June 14, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    I tried this out and it turned out amazing!! Love the addition of orange juice to the batter and overall it was a big hit!! Thankyou!!!

    Reply
  19. Nayanamali says

    August 13, 2017 at 5:16 am

    Can u please tell me a substitute for eggs?

    Reply
    • Falguni says

      September 2, 2017 at 11:24 am

      Try 1/4 cup pureed banana for each egg. In this cake it should do well. Additionally when the cake’s ready, top off with some passion fruit pulp

      Reply
  20. Jasleen Sethi says

    April 10, 2018 at 12:50 am

    Hey.. can i replace all purpose flour with wholewheat flour. Let me know. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Mariel Goodson says

      April 10, 2018 at 11:46 am

      You can substitute with whole wheat flour, it’ll just make the cake much denser. When I sub in WWF, I usually like to do a 50/50 mix of white flour and WWF

      Reply
  21. Charlotte says

    May 24, 2020 at 8:56 pm

    Love this cake! I add a bit of rum to the mix and caramel. Yum!

    Reply

Trackbacks

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