Mango Upside Down Cake
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?
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.