It’s National Cupcake Week so here’s a delicious recipe to try using The Mango Girls’ favourite exotic ingredient. It’s been created by the famous Lola’s Bakery in London
MANGO CUPCAKE
What you need:
200g Self-raising flour
1 easpoon baking powder
175g Butter
250g Caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Grated zest from 1 orange
3 Eggs
175g Sour cream
100g Chopped ripe fresh mango
Mango purée core
150g Chopped ripe fresh mango
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
Cream cheese icing
70g Butter
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
180g Icing sugar
400g Full-fat cream cheese
To decorate
12 Raspberries
12 Blueberries
12 Small slices of mango
Muffin pan lined with 12 muffin cases
Piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle
What you do:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.
Place the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand-held electric whisk) and beat the mixture at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Occasionally stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure that all the butter and sugar is incorporated.
Add the vanilla bean paste and orange zest, and mix. Then, on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until the eggs are fully incorporated.
Slowly add the sifted dry ingredients into the egg mixture on a low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Once the batter is smooth, add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Do not over-mix. Fold the chopped mango through the batter.
Using an ice cream scoop, divide the mixture between the muffin cases, filling to almost two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until well risen and a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the mango purée core, place the mango and orange juice into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Once the cupcakes are cool, use a sharp knife or apple corer to remove a small section from the centre of each cupcake.
Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mango purée for the buttercream, then, using a teaspoon (or disposable piping bag), fill the holes almost to the top with the remaining purée.
To make the cream cheese icing, place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand-held electric whisk), and beat until smooth and soft. Add the vanilla bean paste and sift in the icing sugar. Add the cream cheese and beat at medium to high speed for 30 seconds, until smooth and glossy. Do not over-mix. Carefully fold through the reserved tablespoon of mango purée; it can look very pretty if you leave this slightly rippled through the icing.
Spoon the cream cheese icing into the piping bag and pipe a swirl on to each cupcake. Alternatively, spread the icing on to each cupcake using a palette knife or metal spatula.
Decorate the cupcakes with the fresh fruit.
Recipes taken from LOLA’s Cupcakes Forever, photographs by Peter Cassidy. The book, which is published by Ryland Peters and Small, is available to Times readers for the special price of £7.99 – including postage & packaging – instead of £9.99. Call Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 699 and quote ref HS7)
