MANGO, COCONUT AND THAI LIME LEAF MINI CAKES

BY JORDAN RONDEL, THE CAKER

I absolutely love baking with mango and it’s a great option for a year-round fruit because the canned and frozen varieties are great. If you can’t find freeze-dried kaffir lime powder you can use the fresh version of this incredible fruit, or just regular limes instead.

PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES BAKE TIME: 30 MINUTES READY IN: 2 HOURS MAKES: 7 MINI CAKES Cake

• 150g all-purpose white flour

• 75g ground almonds

• 2 tsp baking powder

• Pinch sea salt

• 75g fine desiccated coconut, lightly toasted

• 100g caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup light olive oil

• 1 cup coconut milk

• 2 tsp freeze-dried kaffir lime leaf powder, or the zest of 2 fresh kaffir limes, or the zest of 2 regular limes

• 200g fresh mango, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes

Icing

• 200g cream cheese

• Juice of ½ lime

• 3 tbsp honey

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp freeze-dried kaffir lime leaf powder, or the zest of a fresh kaffir, or the zest of a regular lime

Decorations

• 1 tsp of freeze-dried kaffir lime leaf powder, or the finely grated zest of a fresh kaffr lime, or the zest of a regular lime

• Fresh flowers, optional

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease or line 9 holes of a large muffin tin.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, salt, coconut and sugar.

2. Gradually add the vanilla, oil and milk. Stop your electric mixer once all the ingredients are combined, being careful not to over mix. Finally, by hand fold through the lime powder / zest.

3. Divide the batter between the mini muffin holes and dot a few pieces of mango into each, pressing down in the batter.

4. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden in colour, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre of a cake comes out clean.

5. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in their tin before turning out onto a cooling rack.

6. Meanwhile, make the icing. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until completely smooth. Continue to add the rest of the ingredients and beat until fluffy.

7. Once the cakes are fully cooled, use a piping bag, a resealable bag with the tip cut off or just the back of a spoon to apply some icing to each cake.

8. Decorate with a sprinkling of lime powder or zest and fresh flowers if using.

9. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.