Lion Cake with Mango & Cream
This adorable lion cake melts in your mouth. It loaded with juicy fresh mangos and fresh cream, it's also lower in sugar than most cakes!
Ingredients
For the sponge cake
- 5 large eggs (separated)
- 80 ml milk
- 50 ml oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 80 gm cake flour (NOTE 1)
- 1 pinch salt
- 100 gm caster sugar (NOTE 2)
For the filling and decorations
- 4 large mangoes (NOTE 3)
- 3 cup thickened cream (NOTE 4)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup icing sugar mixture (NOTE 5)
- yellow food colouring
- black fondant or icing (for the eyes and nose)
- black icing gel (for the mouth and whiskers)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F) or 150°C (300°F) for fan-forced ovens. Line and grease the base (not the sides) of a round 20cm (8in) baking tin with baking paper (parchment paper)
- Make sure your stand mixer bowl and balloon whisk are free from fat. To do this, lightly dampen a paper towel with white vinegar or lemon juice and wipe the inside of the bowl and all over the whisk.
- Use 3 bowls to separate the eggs. One bowl to collect the yolk, one to collect the whites and one for separating the egg. Doing this will help prevent contamination of the whites if a yolk breaks. A tiny amount of yolk can prevent the whites from whipping up.
- In a large bowl, combine the yolks, milk, oil and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Sift in the flour and salt into the mixture and whisk again until there are no clumps. Set aside for later.
- Pour the egg whites into the stand mixer. Start at slow speed, then gradually increase to medium-high. Once foam forms, drizzle in the sugar very slowly. Once the sugar is all in, increase the speed to high. Whip the whites until it reaches medium to firm peaks. This is when the whites should be stiff enough to stand up firmly but have a little curl at the tip when you lift the whisk.
- Place a third of the egg whites into the batter and whisk until smooth. Add another third of the egg whites and gently fold it through the batter with a spatula. Take care not to remove the air from the egg whites. Once incorporated, gently fold in the remaining egg whites. The combined batter should look airy but smooth.
- Pour the batter into the tin. Tap the tin against the kitchen bench a few times to remove air bubbles. Place the cake tin into a larger baking tin and pour in boiled water until it reaches approximately 2cm (.8in) from the base of the cake tin. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
- The cake will deflate a little once it's out of the oven with little wrinkles on the top. Don't worry because the decorations will cover it up and it won't affect the taste or texture of the cake. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes, then run a blunt knife or an offset spatula around the sides of the cake. Turn the cake onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely.
- Once the cake has cooled, carefully use a bread knife or a cake leveller to cut the cake into 3 even layers. Peel the mangoes and cut 3 cheeks roughly into 1cm cubes (.4in) For the mango slices, use a sharp knife to cut thin slices. Lay the slices on a chopping board or plate and set them aside. Depending on the size of the mangoes, you may need more or fewer slices and cubes.
- Place cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar into the bowl and whip at high speed until the cream is fluffy and holds its shape. Divide the cream evenly in two separate bowls. Add a few drops of yellow food colouring into one bowl and fold gently until the colour is even.
- Place a layer of cake on a cake stand or board. Spread the white cream over the cake with a spatula, then place half of the diced mangoes on top. Cover the mangoes with more cream, then place on another layer of cake. Repeat the same process for the next layer. Use the yellow cream to cover the entire outside of the cake. Smooth it out evenly, but don't worry if it doesn't look perfect as the mangoes will cover the sides. Optional - leave approximately 1/2 cup of cream to pipe around the base of the cake.
- Place the large slices of mangoes on the side of the cake, overlapping them slightly. The cream should help hold them in place. Use the smaller slices of mango for the ears, however, you may need to trim them to the right size and shape. Do the lion's face just before serving or the black icing may run and ruin the look of the cake. Shape the black icing with your hand. Make two flat circles for the eyes and a long triangle for the nose. Use an icing gel to draw on the whiskers. Optional - Place the remaining yellow cream into a piping bag and pipe around the base of the cake.
Notes
(NOTE 1) Cake flour - It's hard to find cake flour here in our supermarkets. Some Asian grocers sell cake it but if you can't get cake flour, you can make your own substitute as I did. To make a cup of cake flour substitute: Place a cup of plain four (all-purpose flour) into a bowl, then remove two tablespoons. Replace it with two tablespoons of cornflour or cornstarch the sift the flours a few times to make sure it's distributed evenly.
(NOTE 2) Caster sugar (superfine sugar) - Caster sugar has finer granules than regular white sugar. However, it's not the same as confectionary, icing, or powdered sugar. Many baking or candy recipes call for caster sugar as it dissolves faster and better into mixtures. If you can't find caster sugar, you can make your own by placing regular sugar in a food processor or blender. Pulse the sugar a few times until it looks finer, but take care not to over-blitz it so a powder consistency.
(NOTE 3) Mangoes - You may need 3 large or 4 medium mangoes. It's better to purchase more than less, just in case the seeds are big and there's not much flesh. Also, make sure the mangoes are just ripe and sweet.
(NOTE 4) Thickened cream (whipping cream) has gelatine added to it and contains 35% milk fat. I don’t recommend using low-fat cream because it may not whip up well and be too runny to use.
(NOTE 5) Icing sugar (powdered sugar, confectionary sugar) - Icing sugar usually comes in two forms, icing sugar mixture and pure icing sugar. Icing sugar mixture is softer than pure icing sugar because there's starch or flour added to it. For this recipe, I prefer using icing sugar mixture because the starch helps stabilise the whipped cream.
Decorations - I used Queen's icing writing gel and black icing for the eyes and mouth of the lion. I also use a few drops of yellow gel food colouring in the whipped cream. These are optional, as you may wish to use candies or other edible stuff to make the face.
Leftovers - Transfer the cake into an airtight container and refrigerate. It'll be good for up to 3 days.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 454kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 6gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 192mgSodium: 71mgPotassium: 212mgFiber: 1gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 1870IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 1mg