Tasty Herbalist

A seasonal recipe...mango and coconut cake!

 

Mangoes are back in season and there is much rejoicing in my house. I'm not referring to those mainly large and green boulders often sold as mangoes with an extortionate price tag all year round. No. I'm talking about honey mangoes...sweet juicy perfumed golden beauties...only available for about a month.

They almost always come sold in boxes complete with small bits of coloured tinsel attached to each mango. Of course, mangoes are good for you but really I make this cake because we have bought too many and their perfumed sweetness is starting to take over the house. 

I'd like to say that the coconut is also seasonal, but then I'd be lying.

Mango cake with coconut frosting

Make the frosting first and if possible either the day before as coconut oil can take a while to set again once melted and you'll end up with a very runny frosting (as can be seen from the top photo).

Coconut frosting

2 Cans coconut milk

4 very heaped teaspoons cornflour

1/2 Cup caster sugar

50-75g finely desiccated coconut (plus extra for sprinkling)

1/4 Cup melted coconut oil

1)Mix a little of the coconut milk in with the cornflour to make a smooth paste and put the rest of the coconut milk in a pan with the sugar and stir in the cornflour mix. Bring to a simmer stirring constantly.

2)When the mixture is smooth, thick and creamy take off the heat and stir in the desiccated coconut. Let it cool then whisk in the melted coconut oil. Chill.

Mango cake

150g caster sugar

100g self raising flour

200g plain flour

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

150ml sunflower oil

200ml soya milk

2 large honey mangoes (peeled and the flesh removed)

1) Heat oven to 180C. Grease and line a deep 8" cake tin.

2) Sieve all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Blend the soya milk, mango flesh and sunflower oil together and add this to the dry ingredients. Mix.

3)Pour into your prepared cake tin and bake for 45 minutes (although it can sometimes take up to an hour. I think this is more to do with the size of mangoes used). 

4)Let it cool

5) Slice cake in half. Spread coconut frosting inside (and a layer of freshly sliced mango too if you want) and top it with more frosting and sprinkle over desiccated coconut

 

Elderflower

Just a few quick notes about elderflower. Key points, if you will.

1) The flowers can discolour quickly if you dry them at too high a temperature. They will also lose their volatile oils at too high a temperature which means they will also lose their potency. You don't want this

2) A hot infusion of elderflower will make you sweat...this can be a good thing! This is what you want for feverish  conditions and chills in the bone or when you feel full of the flu and run down. Don't wait until the fever/flu has hit a peak rather start taking it as soon as you start to feel unwell. Fresh flowers are best but well dried ones will be fine too. 

3) It is also beneficial to anyone who has a build up of catarrh/mucus/phlegm/snot so useful for sinus problems, hayfever and coughs and colds.  

4) An elderflower syrup provides the taste of summer through the long winter and anything which does this helps counter the effects of long nights and dull days.

Obviously, there is more to it than that but that will do for tonight....I have found some ye olde recipes involving elderflower which require further perusal.