Mango Shortcake

My MIL makes a wicked strawberry shortcake. It may have been that cake that convinced me I should marry her son :-) I love it, and some time ago, got the recipe off her. I have been meaning to make it for a while now, but never got around to it.

Last week, I had a box of strawberries waiting to be eaten, and I figured, I should finally make that shortcake. So, that morning, I told Aditi that we would have strawberry shortcake for dessert that night. Her face just crumpled, and she was almost on the verge of tears... I was a bit worried there.

She then told me, with a little wobbly voice, 'Mommy, we cannot eat Strawberry Shortcake, her friends love her and will miss her if we eat her'. I was like, what? And then it struck me... Aditi had never had the shortcake dessert, but she did watch the Strawberry Shortcake show on TV. Doh, me! I then spent a while convincing her, that no, we were not going to eat 'Strawberry Shortcake' the character, we were going to have a cake that was called 'Strawberry Shortcake'... by the time the whole process ended, I had managed to confuse myself and her pretty thorougly. This is why stupid networks should not call stupid characters after blimmin' desserts [And side note to self - Aditi is watching too much TV]

So anyway, after all this palaver, I gave up the idea of strawberry shortcake, and decided I would use up the last mango in the bowl and make mango shortcake instead. I used the shortcake recipe that MIL gave me, and served it up with cubed mango and whipped cream. MIL makes her cake in a square tin, and slices and layers it in squares. I made mine in a round 9 inch cake tin, and a smaller one in a mini round tin, so I could decorate it all pretty like. You can make it with whichever tin you have on hand.

It was pretty scrummy, and we all loved it. I particulary loved the creaminess of the mango, but with that slight tang. I did, however, promise myself that strawberry shortcake very soon, and boy, I am going to enjoy eating that irritating character ;-)

Recipe:
Printable Recipe

2 cups sifted cake flour (or 1¾ cups all purpose or plain flour )
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 egg
2/3 cup milk

To serve:

1 large or 2 medium mangoes, peeled, stoned and cubed
100 ml whipping cream, chilled + 2 tbsp sugar

Method:

Sift dry ingredients together 3 times. Rub butter into dry mixture.

Beat egg, add milk to egg and mix.

Mix egg and milk mixture into first mixture very lightly.

Put in lightly greased 8 inch square pan and bake 15 minutes at 350 F (175 C). Let cool.

Whip the chilled cream with the sugar, until it holds soft peaks.

Slice the shortcake, and then slice in half horizontally. Put the cubed mangoes or any other fruit between layers. Top with more mangoes/ fruit and whipped topping.