Mango chiffon cake with coconut and ube frosting

Cake was always the default special occasion food in my family, aside from the ginataan mais and pescado al horno. I remember making a huge mess in the kitchen with my dad's handheld mixer and licking off the mixer blades after the cake batter was in the oven. (I also made a gigantic mess in the kitchen, involving the ceiling and the back of the refrigerator, but that's a story for a different day.) My lola orders spongy cakes from her friend's Chinese bakery for every birthday party. My mom used to order mocha cakes with buttercream frosting from the local Philippine bakery.

Imagine my joy when I found a similar sponge cake in The Book of Jewish Food.

Sephardi cuisine fascinates me, not only because of its Mediterranean influences, but because many of its dishes are also Filipino dishes (with slight differences)--pescado al horno, torta, even adobo. Our common origins in Spain make it the perfect place for me to start looking for the meeting places between our cultures.

This particular cake is based on a chiffon cake I made for a wedding a while ago, which is an awful lot like the sponge cakes I ate growing up. As with most baked goods, it's more accurate to weigh your dry ingredients, but if you must measure, I've given those as well.

Mango chiffon cake

1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup mango pulp (about 1 mango, blended), or 1 cup mango nectar
1 T vanilla extract

7 oz sifted flour (around 1 3/4 cups. If you don't have a sifter, stir it around with a fork before measuring.)
7 oz granulated sugar (scant 1 cup. You can cut this in half if necessary, or substitute half with agave or mango syrup.)
1/2 cup coconut flakes
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
4 egg whites

1. Line the bottom of a 10" cake pan with parchment paper. Don't grease sides. You can butter and flour the bottom of the pan, but parchment paper releases much easier.
2. Whip vegetable oil and egg yolks together just until combined. Stir in mango and vanilla extract.
3. Sift flour, 1/3 of the sugar, baking powder, coconut, and salt. Use a whisk if you don't have a sifter. Stir into egg yolk mixture, then whip at high speed for 1 minute. Reserve.
4. Whip egg whites to a foam. Gradually add remaining sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the meringue into the reserved batter with a wide spatula, taking care not to deflate the foam. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
5. Bake at 375F for approximately 25 minutes or until cakes spring back when pressed lightly in the center.
6. Invert pans on a rack and allow cakes to cool in pan before unmolding.

When it comes time to frost a cake, make sure the cake is cool. If it isn't, and you really have to serve it right now, you're better off dusting it with some powdered sugar (or in this case, coconut shavings) or cocoa and serving it rather than watching your hastily-spackled frosting melt off the sides.

Coconut and ube frosting

4 T Malibu coconut rum or other coconut-flavored rum
2 T ube, defrosted
1 lb butter
2 lbs powdered sugar, sifted

In a mixer, whip together the butter, rum, and ube until smooth. On medium speed, gradually whip in the powdered sugar. Beat until fluffy.
Keep cool until ready to spread on the cake.

Tagged cake dessert
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