Mango Loveliness, Upside-Down, with a bit of Spice Cake

Sublime in texture and taste, the mango lofts among peasants and royalty alike. I wasn't sure about mangoes for many years, their texture and taste varied each time I tasted them. One time it would be unreal in taste and flavour and the next, it would taste like soap and smell musky.

It wasn't until I went to Southeast Asia that I learned to love mangoes.

Here a roadside seller outside the temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia, peels a mango for me. Sadly, like coffee bean farmers, mango farmers are exploited and the price they are paid is very low. How else could we buy .65 cent mangoes imported from Mexico? Interestingly, fair trade programs are being set up to help mango farmers although my research indicates the process is in the beginning stages.

The problem must be that the mango is as plentiful in tropical countries as apples are in North America. Approximately 50% of all tropical fruits produced worldwide are mangoes. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates worldwide production of mangoes at more than 23 million tons in 2001.

When we buy them in our grocery stores they are green and red, yet, in their native lands the skin that is growing towards the sun is red, the opposite side is shaded yellow/orange. The flavour of the imported mango, though often good, is merely a cheap cologne version of the perfumed mango eaten from off the tree.

If you've been to a tropical country or some Thai restaurants : ), you may have eaten green mangoes, sliced, and served with chilis and salt. They are a particular treat that reminds me of the unripe green apples we used to steal from our neighbor's tree in mid-summer.

 Here, Ra from Kompong Cham, Cambodia, eats a green mango.


My lovely ramekin cakes with sliced mango nestled in tiny coconut oil, lime zest and sugar pools and topped with a light five-spiced cake would never be created by most Cambodians. They don't have ovens. Their desserts are variations of white rice mixed with palm sugar and, sometimes, coconut.



The recipe for my cakes calls for cocount oil which I found at the health food store. It is a solid at room temperature so some recipes call to heat it up and others to keep it at a spreadable consistency. I was a little afraid of coconut oil, thinking that it was unhealthy. Despite some research I don't know if it's healthy or if it's being marketed as healthy. I've decided that based on the staggeringly delicious taste, it doesn't matter.


If you'd like to give the Mango Loveliness a try, click on the link under the picture. The recipe was originally printed in New Vegetarian by Robin Asbell.
Little Mango Upside-Down Cakes
makes 5 cakes.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, 2 of these must be softened.
• 3 Tablspoons plus 1/2 cup of raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon Lime zest
• 2 medium Mangoes
• 3/4 cup unbleached flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspon Chinese Five-Spice powder
• 1/2 cup Coconut milk
• 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Use 1 teaspoon of the unsoftened coconut oil to coat the bottoms and sides of five 8-ounce ramekins. Mix another 2 teaspoons of unsoftened coconut oil with the 3 Tablepoons of sugar and the lime zest and divide the mixture among the ramekins, creating little pools for the mangoes to simmer in...
3. Peel the mangoes, then slice the flesh from the pit. (I usually do this in two big pieces and two skinny pieces around the pit. It's often messy.) Slice your pieces into 1/4 inch-thick wedges that create a fan because you won't be slicing all the way to the bottom. Fan the mango pieces in each ramekin. I sort of had to jam in some mango wedges into one or two of my ramekins. 
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and five-spice powder. In a stand mixer, beat the 2 tablespoons coconut oil and raw sugar until fluffy. Beat in the coconut milk and lime juice, then add the dry ingredients and beat to blend. Spoon the batter over the prepared ramekins, spreading it to the edges. 
5. Bake until the cake tests done, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen. Place a small plate over each cup and carefully flip the cake onto the plate. Pull the ramekin off and scrape out any leftover fruit that may have stuck to the bottom. Serve warm or cold. Feel the loveliness dance on your tongue.