Vanilla Cake with Mango Curd Filling and Mango Frosting

Use whatever fun color you like to create this bright cake bursting with mango flavor.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Birthday, Cake, Custard, Frosting

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 45

Total Time 2 45

Servings 24 servings

Calories 501kcal

Author Colleen

Dice the mangoes and combine in a food processor with the other ingredients. Process until smooth, scraping the bowl down as necessary.
Measure out 2 cups of this sweetened mango puree. If you want a perfectly smooth curd, you can strain out the larger chunks of fruit. This is optional. If you are short on puree, you can sub in some mango baby food.

Heat 2 cups of the sweetened mango puree in a large saucepan over medium- low heat just until it begins to bubble. Turn off the heat.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar for 1 minute until pale and creamy. Add the sifted cornstarch and whisk until well combined.
Ladle hot puree into the egg mixture one spoonful at a time. Whisk very well after each addition. If the puree has cooled down too much, warm it back up first.
After all of the mango puree has been whisked into the egg mixture, pour all of this back into the saucepan and place over medium- low heat again. Heat, stirring constantly, until thick. It will go from soupy to thick pudding in a snap, but it will take a bit to get there.
Pour the thick mixture into a clean bowl. Whisk in heavy cream, orange zest, and orange juice.
Press cling wrap onto the surface of the curd and let the mixture cool down to room temperature before storing it in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8 inch and two 6 inch cake pans with baking spray and line with parchment rounds. Soak cake strips. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a measuring glass, combine the milk, oil, vanilla, and food gel. Set aside.
Beat the butter in a stand mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed.
Add the egg whites one at a time, more or less, mixing until combined after each addition. Scrape down the bowl.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the mixer and beat until just combined. Add half of the liquids and beat until just combined. Repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the remainder of the liquids, and finally the remainder of the dry. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Wring out cake strips and wrap around the pans. Add 2 cups of batter to each 8 inch pan and 1 cup of batter to each 6 inch pan.
Bake for 28- 32 minutes. Check that each cake layer is done before removing it from the oven. The edges should just begin to pull away from the pan, the top will spring back when poked, and a skewer will come out clean.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting and assembly.

Pulse the freeze dried mango in a food processor until fine. Sift out the larger chunks and add to a large bowl full of the sifted powdered sugar.
With a stand mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl down as needed.
Add about a third of the mango/ sugar mixture and a tablespoon of cream to the bowl of the stand mixer. Beat on low until combined, then bump the speed up to medium- low for a minute.
Scrape down the bowl and add another third of the sugar mixture and another tablespoon of cream. Beat on low until combined, then bump the speed up to medium- low for a minute.
Scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the sugar mix, orange extract, food gel, and a pinch of salt. Beat on low until combined, then bump the speed up to medium- low for a minute.
*I used 2 drops of yellow gel and 3 drops of orange gel.
Scrape the bowl down and adjust the flavor or add more cream if necessary. Beat on low for about 5 minutes.

Place a cake board on your turntable, add a smear of frosting, and top with a cake layer.
Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the layer. Fill in the center with the chilled mango curd. Make sure not to get the curd filling taller than the frosting border.
Top with the other cake layer, bottom side up. Apply a crumb coat and chill for 15 minutes.
Repeat this with the other set of cake layers. Follow the directions in the post to create the geode cake look.

I used every bit of the mango frosting. There will not be any leftover!
This makes a lot of mango curd. You only need a bit, so you can always try halving the recipe.