Healthy Gluten Free Mango And Coconut Cake with Coconut White Chocolate Frosting
This cake, plus a cuppa works actual magic, I’m telling you. Most of the sweetness comes from the frosting and the cake itself really isn’t very sweet, so you can really taste the different flavours of the nutty flours…and have a second piece.
It’s packed full of beautiful healthy ingredients and is really quite simple to put together.
The overall taste and texture will depend on the size, flavour and ripeness of your mango. If you have a big juice, ripe and mushy one, the mango will spread out into the batter, whereas with a slightly firmer mango. you’ll get nice mango chunks throughout the cake. Either way it’ll be delicious.
Oh and if you don’t know about peeling a mango with a glass, you are welcome.
As usual, I’ve included some buckwheat flour. I think it makes a great gluten free alternative to wheat flour and I just love that extra layer of flavour that it adds. It’s also rich in flavanoids (which help your body to function more efficiently whilst protecting it against toxins) as well as tonnes of vitamins and minerals.
If you don’t have the flours in the recipe, you can substitute for wheat flour of your choice. Use around 2 1/4 cups.
I recommend making the frosting first (even the night before if you can) so that it has time to firm up in the fridge before you slap it on the cake. If you want a super smooth frosting, you could substitute the desiccated coconut for coconut butter, but I actually like to leave a bit of bite in this frosting.
If you’re using a high powered blender (like a magimix) you don’t need to melt your cacao or coconut oil, since the heat from the blender will melt it as it blends. If you think this is a bit of an ask for the blender/food processor you are using, definitely melt it first.
Ingredients
Frosting
1/2 cup cashews, soaked (from 2 hours up to overnight)
1/2 cup desiccated coconut (or sub coconut butter for a smoother frosting)
1/4 cup coconut milk (ideally from a can)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons coconut yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons cacao butter, melted
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
zest and juice of 1-2 limes or zest and juice of one lemon
pinch of salt
Wet
2 tablespoons ground flaxmeal
5 tablespoons water
1 large, rip mango (cut into small chunks if it’s quite firm, or roughly chopped if it’s very soft)
1 overripe banana
1/3 cup coconut oil
4 tablespoons coconut yogurt
3/4 cup coconut milk (for a more coconutty flavour, use the thick stuff from a can, but the milk you drink from a carton will work too)
optional: 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup if your mango is not very sweet
Dry
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup gluten free oat flour (gluten free oats blended into a flour)
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup almond flour (ground almonds will result in a slightly different texture, but still fine)
3 teaspoons baking powder (gluten free)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Method
To make your frosting, simply throw all of the ingredients into a high powered blender and blend away until you have a lovely smooth frosting. You’ll need to keep stopping and scraping down the sides. The final result will have a little bit of bite to it from the coconut but it should be creamy and runny.
Put it in the fridge for several hours to firm up to the consistency of buttercream. (Ideally overnight if that fits in with your baking plans).
Preheat your oven to 180°C (Fan 160°C)/156°F/Gas mark 4 and line a cake tin with baking parchment. (Mine is 12 x 8 inches, but you can use whatever you have).
To make the cake, begin by making your flax eggs. Combine flaxmeal and water in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside for at least 5 minutes or until gloopy.
In a mixing bowl, mash your banana well.
Add in your mango and mash it into the banana. I like to use a potato masher. Chunks are fine, we like chunks. If your mango is a little firm and wont mash too much, don’t worry. Just give it a good smoosh.
Add coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut yogurt and whisk well with a fork until everything is combined.
When it’s ready, add your flax eggs and if you are using maple syrup, add it now.
In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and give it a good mix with a spoon. No need to over-do it. You just want to combine everything. The texture shouldn’t be runny but a slightly firmer batter that you could make an indent into with a spoon (not as firm as a dough though!).
(FYI the batter tastes amazing…)
Pour the batter into your cake tin and smooth it out with a spatula or the back of a spoon. You can sprinkle a little extra coconut, sugar and cinnamon on top if you like.
My cake pan fills up about 3/4 of the way. If yours is considerably more shallow, it will cook more quickly, so do keep an eye on it when it’s baking.
Bake for around 40 minutes, until turning golden on top and until a knife or spatular comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.
Allow the cake to cool completely before spreading your (now firm) frosting on top. Sprinkle with extra desiccated coconut and you’re done!