How do you improve on the classically fabulous pineapple upside down cake? Use fresh mangos as the base fruit alongside the maraschino cherries. This Mango Upside Down cake is simply mouthwatering. Enjoy a slice of this sweet treat while you read The Mango Murders and follow Hayley as she searches for the correct motive to kill the unknown victim.
Mango season brings delicious fruit, tourists and a perfect time to network with locals. In book 15 of A Key West Food Critic Mystery, Key Zest e-zine set up a celebration sailing trip with a boat that resembles Ernest Hemingway’s famous wooden sailing ship. Tragically, shortly after they set sail, the boat burst into flames and everyone was forced to abandon ship. With one casualty whose identity is not released by the police department, Hayley struggles to figure out what was the motive, let alone who is to blame.
The Mango Murders by Lucy Burdette
Mango Upside Down Cake
from a cozy mystery:
The Mango Murders
by Lucy Burdette
Book Outline and Tone:
Hayley’s employer Key Zest e-zine and her mother’s catering business pair up to treat the whos-who of Key West in the hopes of building both of their companies. Unfortunately, the Hemingway-type wooden boat barely makes it out of the harbor when it explodes, sending Hayley and everyone else into the sea. Hayley manages to help rescue some of the survivors and makes her way back to the shore. Now the mystery begins. Who was the target? It could be any of the politicians or the e-zine employees or someone on the catering team. As Hayley investigates, secrets will be revealed, past lovers will be revealed, and fantastic mango recipes will be revealed.
This novel also has an exciting cliffhanger that I can’t believe I didn’t see coming. Author Lucy Burdette seems to be strengthening the characters and potential plots for future novels and I am here for it!
Point of View:
The novel is told in first person from Hayley’s perspective.
The Author:
Like so many cozy mystery authors, Lucy Burdette is a pen name for Roberta Isleib; she is a clinical psychologist and author of three book series. She has written 12 books in the Key West Food Critic series and book 13 is due to be released in 2023. She is also the author of a Golf Mystery Series and the Advice Column Mysteries. Many of her books have been on the short lists for awards and The Key Lime Crime won a bronze medal in the Florida Book Awards. She is active on many social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. She also has an active Pinterest account. On Goodreads, she does a great job answering questions. Be sure to reach out to her on some platform to let her know you enjoyed her book.
What is not to like?:
When the victim’s identity is finally revealed and the mystery solved, there still seems to be some loose threads. I hope the information about Hayley’s boss just provides more plot for the next novel.
The verdict:
Truth be told, one of my fresh mangos was a little too fresh and I ended up supplementing some frozen mango with the fresh in the recipe. The frozen mango worked perfectly. There is an exciting cliffhanger to this novel and now I can’t wait for the next installment.
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Mango Upside Down Cake
Assemble the Ingredients
May to June is mango season for real in Key West, so I obviously had to develop mango recipes for this book. Hayley’s stepfather and mother make this cake for one of Miss Gloria’s birthday week celebrations. You’ll see while reading that the cake also makes a lot of trouble for the characters-but can a cake be responsible for murder?
Preheat the oven to 350.
Butter a 9-inch cake 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
bake for about 40 minutes until lightly browned or until a knife comes out clean. Let the cake rest on a rack for an hour. Then place your serving plate over the top and gently invert the cake onto the platter.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Mango Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 2 mangoes
- 8-9 Maraschino cherries
- 12 Tbsp butter, divided
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1½ cups unbleached flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Butter a 9-inch cake 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 40 minutes until lightly browned or until a knife comes out clean.
- Let the cake rest on a rack for an hour.
- Then place your serving plate over the top and gently invert the cake onto the platter.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
What would I do differently next time?
I used 2 mangoes, but I love mango, so next time I might use 3 mangoes and add a bit more butter and brown sugar for the bottom layer.
Try these other cake recipes too!
Southern Blackberry Jam Cake from Strangled Eggs and Ham by Maddie Day
Chocolate Soul Cake from Murder is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns
Chocolate Orange Poppy Seed Cake from A Catered Valentine’s Day by Isis Crawford
Magical Christmas Date Cake from Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
