If You Like Mango Lassi, You Will Love This Quick And Easy Cake

I am a huge fan of Mango Lassi. And lately I’ve been making it myself. I’ve created a “recipe” that checks the boxes for me—tangy yogurt and kefir, tart-sweet mango with a hint of sweetness from honey and spice from cardamom. I put everything in my smoothie blender and in a matter of seconds, it’s ready to enjoy.

Because I am mildly addicted to mango lassi, I always have yogurt and frozen mango in my refrigerator/freezer. Recently I received a bottle of Kasama rum—a 7-year aged rum made in the Philippines. The bottle is appealing with raised lush green leaves on the bottle and a design that is reminiscent of a youthful ‘stickers’ infatuation. When I smelled the rum, it smelled like a piña colada, and tasted very tropical with notes of pineapple, sweet coconut and vanilla.

I made a cocktail with coconut water and lime and found out later that the brand promotes the spirit with a similar cocktail. It was refreshing but I had other plans for the rum. When I took that first sip, I could literally taste it as a glaze on a simple mango snacking cake. 

I started with the classic French yogurt cake recipe as the base, and adapted it to use mango yogurt and the frozen chunks of mango that I had in my freezer. Because I wanted to echo the flavors of Mango Lassi, I added fragrant ground cardamom to the batter. The mango yogurt lightly scents the batter and lays the foundation for the Mango Lassi flavor.

I’ve made a plain version of this quick and easy yogurt cake many times—it’s like a much lighter version of a pound cake but with no butter and a lot less sugar. But I’ve never added fruit to it, and wasn’t sure if the fruit was going to work in the batter. Happily, the cake is even better with a little fruit in it, and the Mango Lassi cake is firmly in my rotation right now.

I used a generous cup of frozen mango chunks—just enough to cover the top of the batter before I put it in the oven. The thing that I love about this quantity of fruit is that the slices from the loaf are studded with 1 to 3 pieces of fruit. I love the simplicity of this ratio. The tender vanilla crumb in the snacking cake has an occasional piece of mango—like a surprise treat—as opposed to it becoming all mango and only a little cake.

The tropical rum glaze add a touch of sweetness and a depth of flavor that makes this an exceptional snacking cake or the foundation of a sunny cake and ice cream dessert that would be welcome any time of the year.

Mango Lassi Loaf Cake with a Tropical Rum Glaze 

Adding mango yogurt and chunks of mango to the classic French yogurt cake is reminiscent of a Mango Lassi—a popular mango-flavored yogurt drink that originated in India. Add a tropical Kasama rum glaze with notes of pineapple and coconut and you have a light fruity cake that tastes like sunshine.

Makes 1 loaf

1 3/4    cup all-purpose flour

2          teaspoons baking soda

1/2      teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2      teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

3          large eggs

1          cup white sugar

Zest of a lemon

1          container mango yogurt, roughly 150 grams 

21/2    teaspoons vanilla extract 

1/2      cup neutral vegetable oil such as Crisco

1          generous cup frozen chunks of mango

Glaze:

1/2      generous cup confectioner sugar

Pinch of sea salt

1          tablespoon Kasama or favorite tropical rum

Preheat the oven to 350° prepare an 8-or 9-inch loaf pan with Baker’s Joy. 

Place the loaf pan on a sheet pan fitted with a piece of parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt.

In a large bowl, using a Blending fork, beat the eggs, sugar and lemon zest together until well combined and lighter in color. Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Add the flour mixture to the yogurt mixture and beat just until no lumps remain. The batter will be a thick but pourable. 

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with the frozen chunks of mango. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes. 

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack; remove the pan and flip the cake so that cools top-side up.

Cool for about 40 minutes and pour the glaze over the top. Cool for an additional 40 minutes and serve.

To serve, slice cake in half-inch slices and serve plain, or with coconut or vanilla ice cream. This is a great snacking cake or a great base cake for a summery, fruity cake and ice cream situation.