Mango Upside Down Cake by Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: We were going to have another of my favorite writers today, Barbara O'Neal with her newest book, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth, which I have on my nightstand. (Am salivating to think of diving in.) Except...her next book is due in two weeks, so she begged to postpone. I say, never get in the way of a writer and her unfinished manuscript! So we are serving mango upside down cake today instead!

In the fifteenth food critic mystery, THE MANGO MURDERS, it’s May, and that means mango season has arrived in Key West. That means I had to develop lots of mango-themed recipes. This mango upside down cake is a riff on the traditional pineapple and just as delicious. 

Mangoes have a weird pit hidden in the middle of the fruit that you must cut around, so your yield may be smaller than expected. I made this cake with one mango but I could happily have used two.

Ingredients



1-2 mangoes


8-9 Maraschino cherries


12 Tbsp butter, divided


1/2 cup brown sugar


2 Tbsp honey


1 and 1/2 cup unbleached flour


1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder


1/2 cup sugar


1 tsp. vanilla


2 large eggs


1/2 cup milk



Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch cake pan, bottom and sides. (I used some of the butter above, figuring there's plenty in the recipe already.) Cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the pan, put it in the bottom and butter that too. 

Peel and cut the mangoes into slices or cubes.

Melt 4 oz of butter in a small pan. Add the honey and brown sugar and heat, stirring until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and then place the fruit into the pan, in whatever design you choose. Dot with maraschino cherries.

Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients except for the sugar in one bowl and measure milk into a glass measuring cup. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar and vanilla with a mixer until they are light in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk until everything is mixed nicely. 



Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for about 38-40 minutes until lightly browned or until a test knife comes out clean. Let the cake rest on a rack for an hour. Then run a knife around the edge, place your serving plate over the top, and gently invert the cake onto the platter. Tap the pan to help it along if it doesn’t drop out immediately. 

Serve warm or at room temperature. You're welcome. Love, Lucy