Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Cardamom Laced Mango-Strawberry Heart Chiffon Cakes (Eggless)

"A compromise is the art of 'dividing a cake' in such a way that everyone believes that he has got the biggest piece."





Well that was something I did not have to bother with. Why? 'Cause I already had divided the cake into individual serve-size pieces. Smart me! ;p

If you ever visit me this time of the year (especially in these last couple of weeks) a whiff of an intoxicating perfume will hit you as you enter the door (and make you forget all your manners) while you helplessly follow it to the room where those juicy deep coloured yellow goblets lie on a ruck sack waiting to ripen to be devoured. Ahhh! yes the Alphonsos are the culprit.

There is an over haul of mangoes in my house. They always lure me into buying them as they longingly look at me in all their golden glory, from the vendor's cart. It would require a heart of stone for anyone to ignore this luscious stone fruit. I cannot help having atleast two in a day...I am smitten. But then its only in summers that I get to eat ( and sometimes drink) this fruit, fit for the kings. My weak resolve has lead to my diet being shown the door. Alas!

This mango cake was made in an effort to 'spread' the calories....(chuckle).
We were visiting a neighbour-cum-family friend of ours after a long time so I made these pretty little hearts to share with them.

This mango cake is elegant and light with a hint of cardamom giving it a rich aroma. The lite strawberry chantilly(frosting) and the sandwhiched jam just give it another dimension and depth in flavour. Being eggless and sans butter, its low fat and can be had as afternoon snack/hi-tea too.




While I was at it, I realized just how much treasure we have in the tropics in terms of fruits, and just how much we ignore it and try to kill ourselves scouting for fruits of the temperate regions to recreate all those gorgeous tarts, tortes, pies when we have perfectly valid and delicious substitutes growing in our own backyard! I understand that 'traditionally' a blueberry pie cannot be made into a guava pie...however I see no harm in giving it a shot.

There’s a fine line between tradition and caricature and I see no reason why a banana brownie can’t be transformed into a dragon fruit one, or why a strawberry cake can’t become a persimmon cake. Take a moment to rediscover the tropical fruits and vegetables you have on hand and you may be surprised at how much more they have to offer. Go local !!




Cardamom Laced Mango-Strawberry Heart Chiffon Cakes (Eggless)
Ingredients-
For the mango cake:
1/2 cup semolina ( fine variety )
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp corn flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups ripe mango pulp (I used fresh pulp from three medium sized alphonso mangoes)
3/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup luke warm low-fat milk
3-4 tbsp canola oil/any odourless oil
1 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup powdered sugar (adjust according to ripeness of mangoes, mine were really ripe/sweet)


For the jam: See here.
For the strawberry chantilly frosting: Read the strawberry whipped cream recipe.


Method-
Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees C.
Seive the dry ingredients twice (except semolina and sugar).
In a large bowl, beat the condensed milk, warm milk, oil and sugar till the mixture is creamy and pale. Add the cardamom powder and mango pulp and beat again for a minute on low.
Now add the wet ingredients to the dry, slowly incorporating all the liquid mix. Take care not to lose the trapped air in the batter.


Tip: Always mix a cake batter ever so slightly, like forming the digit '8' with your spoon.


Pour into 6" round greased & lined cake tin. Consecutively you can bake in individual moulds of your choice. Bake at 170 degrees C for 15 minutes.
Cool on rack for about an hour or so, to let the mango flavour heighten.
Slice the individual cakes and layer with the strawberry jam. Frost lightly with the strawberry chantilly. Sprinkle decorations if desired.
Serve.


20 comments:

  1. they look so pretty...nice sweet colour..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow these are wonderful cute cakes,with mango, they are winner, love strawberry frosting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wowowoww Navita!!! wat a gorgeous cake, fabulous dear!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So pretty! I love the mango-strawberry combo in these scrumptious chiffon cakes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, loved the combination of mango and strawberry. Cake looks lovely and moist, and moreover eggless!! Loved it :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow they look so so delicous.
    Who owuld be able to resist treat like these.
    Beautiful and delcious.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks so pretty and mouthwatering... yummy

    ReplyDelete
  8. enticing flavors,mango & strawberry are irresistible together:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are so right about having a treasure of fruit in the tropics! I really miss the fresh fruits we were able to get when we lived in Hong Kong. A mango bought in the mid-west of the U.S. is totally not the same.

    Your cakes are scrumptious looking!

    What is the exact difference between corn flour and semolina? I thought they were pretty much the same. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh those hearts are so beautiful and I love the pink frosting and sprinkles :0)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ohh..such cute little cakes!! love the addition of cardamom in it. mustve added quite a subtle punch.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This cake looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Semolina is a fine grained grain, hailing from the wheat family. It is used instead of corn meal at times on the pizza peel, for its grainy structure.

    Corn flour on the other hand is a starch which helps thicken liquids, almost the way store bought custard powder does. In this cake the corn flour lightens the cake further.

    Hope this helps :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. These are so dainty and cute.... I love semolina but I wish I could find it readily more available here.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh wow love that tempting frosting.....looks yum....

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hay go local!!! but one more element... creativity like yours :D This mango is, besides delicious, very very unique as well!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Cake looks great and tempting Navita.Drop in sometime to my blog!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This looks so yum and inviting !

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow these eggless cakes look fantastic! They are so well risen and hold their shape really well, too! Great job! Loving your blog!

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for taking out the time to put your thoughts into words. It is appreciated. Hope I am able to keep you involved, intrigued and happy with this blog. Your views are welcome.