Mango Gulab Jamun Cake

Serves 8, Prep time 15 minutes, Baking Time: 15, Standing time 2 hours 

I was about to do a Victorian sponge cake base, but I figured... Mangos ... Indian... I know I will make a Gulaab Jamin cake! This cake is fruity , sticky, with warming spices , creamy, not too sweet, what more could you want!  One more thing I can just tolerate is rose water (it's like eating flowers to me), which is traditional for Gulab Jamin, but as was making it I left it out! If you want add a tablespoon or two to the syrup after boiling.

Cake Base 

1 /2 TSP Baking powder 

1 TSP Bicarbonate of soda 

60g (1/4 cup) Caster Sugar 

Either Coconut oil, Butter , or Margarine for greasing 

190g (1+ 1/4 Cup) Plain Flour 

100g (1+1/4 Cup) Milk Powder 

375ml (1+ 1/2 cup) Milk ( any kind will do)

1/2 cup neutral oil

Syrup 

1/2 cup Caster Sugar 

1 cup water 

4 cardomen pods , crushed and seeds removed 

Punch of Saffron 

Toppings 

Blueberries ( or pomegranates for contrast) 

1/4 cup Cream ( for white chocolate)

1/2 cup Cream ( whipped to stiff peaks) 

2 Mangos, stoned, cut into 2cm fingers and peeled ( if using Alphonso I would just omit the sugar from the cake base entirely as these are super sweet) 

1/4 cup Pistachios of Almonds 

150g White Chocolate

1/8 cup dried coconut 

Equipment Suggestion: 

Prestige - Non Stick Sandwich cake tin - Easy Food Release - Dishwasher Safe - Durable Steel - 8 inches - 20.5x 2.5 cm https://amzn.eu/d/7PcJIpx

Method 

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (350f) and grease and line 2 x 8 inch sandwich cake tins 

2. In a bowl add dry ingredients and stir 

3. Add your wet  ingredients to the dry, ensuring that you only mix till you can no longer see dry bits of flour and milk powder 

    4. Divide Mixture into the two greased tins from step 1, the batter is thick, so try and make sure the cake is spread evenly in both tins

    5. After oven has preheated , place tins of step 4 into oven, for 15 minutes, insert a tooth pick or skewer to check if done i.e.  if there is no wet batter when you remove tooth pick or skewer it's done 

    6.Remove and place cakes to cool completely on a wire rack ( should only take an hour max ) 

    7.In a small saucepan, make syrup by combining sugar , cardamom seeds and water , bring to a boil , once up to a boil, allow liquid to reduce by half before switching off and adding saffron 

    8.Once cakes have cooled, transfer cakes to their own large plates and pierce tiny holes in each cake everywhere 

    9.Pour syrup into each cake, allow to sit for 1/2 hour so the syrup cools and has a chance to absorb into the cake

10. Combine white chocolate 1/4 cup of cream to create, and melt together, stirring consistently  to creat a ganache.   Spread one of the dommed surfaces of the cake with ganache and spread whipped cream and some of the fruit on top. 

11. Sandwich other cake on top; flat surface down . 

12. Decorate your cake with the pistachios , remainder fruit, and whipped cream.