Mango Upside-Down Cake

Two very good friends just got married (my husband’s cousin and his girlfriend) so I made this dessert for a little “we’re happy you’re getting married” dinner party we hosted at our apartment with family and our usual suspects group. To celebrate the occasion I made roast chicken with maple glazed sweet potatoes, a green salad with rhubarb vinaigrette and I wanted to serve a flavorful, but not too rich or complicated dessert. I had no time to improvise or think about adapting the recipe, so I just used this one as it is. One of our friends is lactose intolerant, so I was happy to offer coconut whipped cream to serve with this dessert. It’s the perfect combination: mango & coconut. You can find the procedure to prepare it on our Mango Pancakes with Coconut Whipped Cream post.

For the verdict, well… I hope my guests comment on my post so you can read what they thought about it! (ehem, ehem… guys? hint, hint)

Helga

Mango Upside-Down Cake

Serves 8-10
Adapted from a recipe in the January 2002 issue of Gourmet

Ingredients for the Topping:
2 firm-ripe mangoes, peeled
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup packed light brown sugar

Ingredients for the Cake:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

Preparation:

Slice mangoes lengthwise and remove flesh from the halves using a spoon. Cut into half-inch slivers. Be sure to extract any excess flesh from the pit, since that’ll be usable too.
Melt butter over med-low heat in a small saucepan. Once melted, stir in the brown sugar and simmer (stirring occasionally) until the sugar is incorporated and you’re left with a thick paste, about 2 minutes.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan and spread the butter/sugar mixture. It won’t coat the entire surface, but spread as best you can. Arrange the mango slices on top in whatever pattern you think is prettiest. Set aside.

Directions for the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the 2 whole eggs and one egg yolk one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
Reduce speed to the lowest setting and add half of the flour mixture stirring until just combined. Pour in the orange juice and stir, then add the remaining half of the flour mixture. Finish stirring by hand to avoid over mixing.
Spoon the batter over the arranged mango slices in the cake pan – being careful not to disturb your lovely arrangement – and spread the batter evenly. Bake for 47-50 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife along the edges of the pan, invert onto a platter and continue cooling. Serve at room temperature with ice cream or coconut whipped cream.

Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake

I hosted a last minute family get together a few weeks ago, Kristen and I decided that we wanted to bake something for her grandparents and I had pound cake in mind since it’s easy to bake and it’s the perfect coffee cake. I knew we had a pound cake recipe at Foodies’ already, but I wanted to try a different recipe so I hit google and started to browse through the results. I found recipes from sites I know and trust such as Pioneer Woman or Joy the Baker, but when I saw Elvis Presley’s favorite pound cake recipe I knew the search was over. How could I not want to try The King’s favorite pound cake!

Upon reading about the recipe from Saveur, I found out that one of Elvis’s favorite sweets was the pound cake made by his childhood friend Janelle McComb who shared the recipe on the 10th anniversary of his death. She would bake two loaves for Christmas and bring them to Graceland, Elvis could eat one all by himself!

As for the cake itself, it is sweet, and dense. There are two things that really make this cake what it is. One of them, is the added cream and the other is beating it for 5 minutes. We’re always telling you not to over beat batters for baking, as this does affect the consistency. This time, we want you to beat! Also, if you have two loaf pans, use them. I used a single bundt cake pan and it almost overflowed out of my pan.

This cake was a hit with my family, and even more so when I shared the story behind the recipe, my mother in law was especially curious to try Elvis’s favorite pound cake recipe. She is a true fan… she has all his records and her coffee mug has Elvis on it.
Enjoy it, and tell the story!

Helga

Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake

Serves 10
Recipe from Saveur

Ingredients

16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
3 cups cake flour, sifted, plus more for pans
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ tsp. kosher salt
7 eggs
1 cup heavy cream

Procedure:

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9″x 5″x 2″ loaf pans; set aside.
Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
Add eggs one at time, beating well after each, until smooth.
Add flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with flour, beating until smooth.
Increase speed to high; beat batter until smooth and light, about 5 minutes.
Divide batter between prepared pans, and smooth tops with a rubber spatula; bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a couple crumbs adhering to it, about 1 hour, 15 minutes.
Let cool 30 minutes, and then unmold onto a cooling rack; let cool completely before slicing and serving.

11:34 AM
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Fuchsia Velvet Cupcakes

If you followed our adventures here at The Foodies’ Kitchen, you know this is not my first rodeo making Red Velvet Cupcakes. It was June 2010 when I posted a recipe for Pink Velvet Cupcakes, and even though they tasted great, it was not the result I wanted. I wanted something bight red like this. So, after a few test recipes I found one that was both flavorful and bright Red. One problem: the only food coloring I could get my hands on in February was a local brand. I searched high and low for the infamous food coloring powder with no success. So, here I was and made these beauties. This food coloring is more pink than red, so they turned out bright Fuchsia. And they look gorgeous!

Angie Dudley (better known as Bakerella) is the mastermind behind this recipe, and from now on it will be my go-to recipe for Velvet cupcakes, specially since it asks for all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. All around, no matter what color you decide to use, these cupcakes turn out delicious. The frosting is sweet, so if you want to cut on confectioners sugar, I’d add a bit more of cream cheese (an ounce or two should do it). I do recommend preparing these cupcakes the day you’ll be serving them as the frosting has cream cheese in it.

One last note, I found the Black and White Damask Cupcake Liners at Blossom Cakes in Guatemala City, but if you’re in the US you can get them from Bake it Pretty. About 50 cupcake liners for $3.50 – that’s a bargain!

Kitty

Fuchsia Velvet Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Bakerella
Makes 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 oz. fuchsia (bright dark pink) food coloring

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line trays with cupcake papers.
Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.
Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together with another wire whisk.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.
With the help of an ice cream scoop, divide batter into cupcake pans. After that, slightly drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.