Mango yoghurt pound cake & Honey Lemon Madeleins

Lately, there were plenty of honey mangoes going on sale in the groceries. Somehow mango is the one fruit that I can never resist on buying...especially when it is on sale! After finishing up a couple mangoes 2 weeks back, we got some again last week...and seeing how fast it is ripening worries me a little. I decided to bake something with these aromatic mango fruit to enjoy it in a whole new way. :) So I baked a Mango Yoghurt Pound cake, a recipe which is adapted from my Passion Fruit Pound Cake. Result? Delish!

I realized that I haven't post any loaf or pound cake recipe for a relatively long time...a year? I guess sometimes we tend to forget the simplest cake recipes, which perhaps is something that we enjoy very much without much fuss. In fact I made this cake in an hour, including the baking time...neat right?

Ingredients for Mango Yoghurt Pound Cake:

110g unsalted butter, room temperature

140g caster sugar

2 large eggs
1 ½tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
160g Cake flour, sieved
75g of plain yogurt

100g fresh mango fruit, peeled and pureed

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter and line a loaf tin with parchment paper and butter it again. (I used a 7" by 3.5" loaf tin )
• In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together till light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time till well mixed in.
• Add in yogurt and stir till incorporated. Then add in the mango puree and mix well.
• Add in cake flour, baking powder and salt and stir till just blend in.
• Pour the cake batter into the loaf tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or till the cake tester comes out clean.

The cake is tender, moist with fine crumbs with the right amount of sweetness, plus a hint of mango in each bite. My perfect afternoon tea treat. :)

Another simple cake/cookie which I want to share with everyone is Honey Lemon Madeleines which I made quite a while back. It's such a nice recipe that I figured it'll be such a waste if I don't post it up. These tender French classic confection has a whole new character when honey and lemon are introduced to it. Be sure to use a quality honey like wildflower or Lavender honey that has a more assertive scent so these little cakes can have a more outstanding flavor.

The lemon zest in these cakes brightens up the flavor and counteracts the buttery taste which makes it not at all too heavy to down even when you reach the fifth one, hohoho...dangerous! (^o^)

Ingredients for Honey Lemon Madeleines (makes about 12) (adapted from "The Last Course")

85g unsalted butter

2 large eggs

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tbsp wildflower honey

62g all purpose flour

28g cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

zest of a lemon

• In a heat proof saucepan, place the butter in and heat over medium low fire. Continue to cook the butter until some white milk solids fall to the bottom of the skillet and turn into a rich haxelnut brown, about 5 minutes. Strain the browned butter through a fine sieve into a small bowl.
• In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs, both sugasr and phoney until very pale in color and triple in volume.
• Sift in both flours, salt,aking powder over the egg micture and use a rubber spatula to gently fold in.
• Lastly fold in the brown butter. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 200C. Liberally butter the madeleine molds. Spoon or pipr the batter evenly into the molds. Bake for 5 to 7 mins, until golden brown. Transfer the pans to wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then unmold the cakes and let them cool completely on the rack.

I notice not all of my madeleines has that distinctive "bump"....and those that has it was because I scooped more batter into that mold. Seriously, I'm not sure why some are particular about that "bump"....does it shows how the texture of the cake is? Anyway, I think as long as your batter is at the right consistency, it will yield a good texture.

Hope these 2 wonderful cake treats will motivate you to bake them for your love ones soon. Seize the day, bake a cake, lol!

Okay all, have a great week ahead!