This mango curd meringue cake is a bit more labour of love with a three step making process. But it can be divided up as the curd and cake can be made ahead of time with only the meringue to be made straight before assembly. I always opt for italian meringue with this type of bake as it’s that bit more stable and keeps really well in the fridge.
Italian Meringue Tips
Wipe the inside of the stand mixer with lemon or vinegar. This helps remove any potential grease from the bowl and the acid helps stabilize the meringue mixture.
Always use fresh, room temperature egg whites for meringue.
What you will need for the Italian Meringue
Candy thermometer
Blow torch
Mango Meringue Cake
Ingredients
Curd
150g granulated sugar
118ml (1/2 cup) lemon juice + zest of 2 lemons
5 egg yolks
225g canned mango puree
115g unsalted butter
Vanilla Cake
170g unsalted butter
300g granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract
zest of one orange
90g sour cream
90g whole milk
270g all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Italian Meringue
350g granulated sugar
90ml water
6 egg whites (200g), room temperature
Instructions
Curd
Zest the lemon into the sugar and let sit for 5 mins to help draw out the lemon flavour. Seperate out the egg yolks and add to the sugar. Add lemon juice and mango puree and whisk all together. Add together with the butter to a pot and heat on a low-medium heat for about 15mins whisking continuously so that it doesn’t curdle. It’s done when it thickly coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and sieve into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic on top of the curd and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or up to 10 days.
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour 3 6inch pans and set aside.
In a bowl or stand mixer cream the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy, about 2 mins. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in till fully combined. Add the orange zest and vanilla and mix till fully combined.
In a bowl whisk all the dry ingredients together. Whisk the sour cream and milk together. Add the dry and wet ingredients half at a time and mix until just combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake and check for doneness after 30mins or until a toothpick into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10mins and then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.
To assemble
Slice any dooming off the top of the cake layers. If you would like more cake layers, slice these layers carefully in half. On the bottom cake layer spread a layer of curd leaving about 2cms from the edge. Add the next cake layer on top and repeat. Stick a dowel into the cake for support and freeze for at chill for at 30mins to firm up the curd before adding the meringue.
Italian Meringue
In a saucepan, add the sugar and water over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook on medium-high heat until the sugar syrup reaches 240F. While it is boiling add the egg whites to a clean bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until the egg whites are just forming soft peaks. Once the syrup reaches 240F slowly stream the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl with the mixer on medium speed. Turn up high and whisk until the meringue forms stiff peaks.
Frost a thick layer of meringue all over the cake layer using a palette knife or spoon to make swirls all over. Then have fun torching the meringue all over!
