Magnificent Mango Cake

Because I have lived most of my life in the Northeast, mangos have an exotic fruit connotation in my mind.  One of my friends at Penn State was from Hawaii.  (What a change in weather climates!)  She described how her family had a mango tree in their backyard.  This was mind blowing for me as I admit that I would love to live in a climate that would support me growing my own mango tree.  Then she taught me how to properly cut and eat a mango–yes, it was still messy.

Move forward over 20 years on life’s timeline, and mangos are common and affordable in grocery stores now.  My oldest daughter enjoys eating them fresh while my other girl like a handful of the frozen pieces in her smoothies.  Trader Joe’s makes a delicious snack of dried mangos sprinkled with chili powder.  It doesn’t matter how this fruit is prepared, it still tastes like sunshine to me.  While New Hampshire is stuck in the long gray lull between winter and spring, I always hope the bright flavors of this cake can coax Mother Nature to finally turn the corner into warmer days.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 fresh mangos, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup almond meal or finely ground nuts
• cinnamon vitality essential oil
• powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch pan.  Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in another bowl.  Incorporate into the butter mixture.  Mix in mangos (I still use the electric mixer for this as it helps break down the chopped fruit pieces).  Stir in nuts/almond meal.  Add 2-3 drops of cinnamon oil to taste, if desired.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Allow to cool before sprinkling with                                                                               powdered sugar, if desired.