I had been dying to use the mangoes – but not the same as usual.
I wanted to make something different this time – not ice-cream, not mampazham morkootan (Palakkad), not custard. Hmmmmmm…..I was seeing …..sticky gooey creamy chewy’s strawberry shortcake and the vision hit me – yes what I wanted to make was a mango shortcake.
Now, I don’t really know how a shortcake tastes – I have never had one before this!
The recipe is there in my ‘Classic Cakes’ illustrative book – appears to be a short crust pastry sandwiching a lot of cream and strawberries and topped with dollops of cream and strawberry.
It looks good and inviting but it is the short crust which bothers me – does it taste like a flat cake as in a swiss roll, or does it taste like a crusty cookie?
I am decided – come what may – cookie crusty or cakey, I am going to make it, eat it and then let the wise palette decide for itself. So that’s puts an end to all the self debate going on in my mind. All this was happening the previous night as I was going to sleep – is it the blogging that’s causing these visions??
The first thing this morning, I look up ‘Classic Cakes’ for the recipe – it is a vegetarian recipe – no eggs, which means that I too get to eat the shortcake, hurray!!
The baked short cake crusts were more cookie like than pastry as I had expected! Nice crunchy cookies but a little thicker, and it just had slight hint of bitterness - could it be due to more than desired measure of baking powder?
The mangoes this year are not as sweet as they usually are - the early unseasonal rains have affected the taste, and caused losses to many mango breeders - the climate has been unpredictable of late. We can't really blame anybody - the havoc we cause on the environment is by no means less!
Coming back to the cake - no the shortcake - it was good! Don't go by my little fellow's reaction which was something like this - "the mangoes don't go well with the biscuit which was a little 'kadva', (meaning bitter) and the cream did not go well with the mangoes, so I did not eat it."
It was not like that at all. Let me summarise it:
- The mangoes were not sweet and I did not add sugar to the cream - it was a fatal error!
- There was the slightest hint of bitterness but the cream made up for it - next time I should reduce the quantity of baking powder!
- Joy of baking tells me that -"1 to 2 teaspoons (5-10 grams) of baking powder leavens 1 cup (140 grams) of flour. The amount will depend on the ingredients and how they are mixed."
Except for my son, we all agreed that it was very good, and that I could have been a little more generous with the sugar, and no one else thought it was bitter!
Here is the recipe - after all that if you still think its good do go ahead, make it and let me know how it tasted and do reduce the amount of baking powder used:
Ingredients:
(Makes a 7" round short cake - I made one of 6" and a few minis)
Refined Flour - 225g/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 tbsp.
Salt - 1/2 tsp. (I did not use as the butter was salted)
Butter (softened) - 50g/4tbsp.
Caster sugar - 50g/4tbsp.
Milk - 150ml./2/3 cup
heavy cream - 300ml / 1 and 1/4 ( I used only 100ml!!)
Mangoes (Should be ripe) - 3 medium sized
I scooped out the flesh into small 1cm spheres
A circular template - about 7 inches in diameter.
A cookie cutter for the mini short cakes.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 220 deg. C. Prepare a baking sheet.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt (if using) thrice into a bowl.
3. Stir in sugar, cut in butter and toss (I mixed with fingertips) till the mixture becomes crumbly.
4. Stir in enough milk to make a soft dough (Like cookie dough).
5. Divide into two balls. Roll them out into circles and cut with the template into 7 inch rounds.
Divide one of the templates into 8 pizza portions with slight indents (not cuts) as shown here:
Gather the bits and make mini shortcakes by using the cookie cutters.
6. Place on baking sheet and bake in the centre of the oven for 10-15 minutes (Mine took nearly 25minutes). Leave on a rack to cool completely.
The mini cakes:
7. Place the cream in a bowl and whip till it holds peaks (I used ready whipped cream).
8. Place the unmarked shortcake on a serving plate, and spread the cream (Thick or thin), and place a 3/4th of the chopped or scooped mangoes on it. Cover with the marked layer. Spread a think layer of cream, and decorate as desired.
9. Do the same with the mini short cakes. Here is mine! These little ones were made with a mission as I have already mentioned in this
post where you also get the full details for participating in the event!
Not forgetting to include the paragraph that I hope will make others aware of the "Little Wonders March" for babies team and garner more entries for the event:
FUNDRAISER PARAGRAPH:Want to know more about Little Wonders March for Babies Team? Fantastic!! Here is the Team Page. Any amount that you can sponsor is extremely appreciated. Please, please help spread the word and sponsor Little Wonders if you can! Thank you!
Labels: Baking - Cakes, Ing - Mango, Kiddie treats, Vegetarian - Dessert
