Mango season has been around for a while now and I have not posted any mango-related stuff…even though I’ve been eating so many. I usually make something or the other- either a crumble, a cake, or some good old-fashioned fruits with custard.  And yes, some savory dishes as well, like a chutney or even a mango curry.

This year, however, I’ve pretty much been eating them as is the entire season. I’ve had a near-perfect season. I haven’t encountered a sad or tasteless mango thus far. It’s been pretty darn good. So each time I bought mangoes, I’d just cut and eat them- I didn’t even feel like turning them into anything different.

Until I realized that time is running out. (Gasp!) I’d be pretty pathetic if I didn’t reflect some kind of seasonal change on the blog right? Because I’ll be honest with you- other than seasonal fruit (mangoes, cherries, lychees, strawberries,) and corn in summer and red carrots in winter, I really don’t what seasonal produce to expect in India.

Growing up in Kerala, there was mango season, monsoon and then the rest of the year.

When I lived in Delhi, I knew winter had set in when those gorgeous deep-coral carrots arrived in the market.

Considering I know so little about seasonal produce, I couldn’t let this mango season slip by. And I baked these cupcakes.

While mangoes are a wonderful dessert on their own, last year I realized that they bake pretty well too. After last year’s mango custard cake, I wanted to try baking a cake where the mango flavor was completely infused in the batter- and which had bits of fruit to bite into as well. I made this by trial and it is very pleasant indeed. Initially, I thought the mangoes would make the cake sticky, but that was not the case. The saffron leaves a subtle, flowery-honey taste. And that sun-kissed hue 🙂

The rain came in sideways on my balcony when I took this picture!

MANGO-SAFFRON CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

• 100 g butter
• 200 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 150 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 4-5 strands of saffron
• 1/4 cup fresh mango puree
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup fresh mangoes, cut into small cubes. (Use half of these in the batter and the remaining for decoration.)

METHOD

• First, make your ‘mango milk.’ Combine the mango puree and the milk and add the saffron strands to it so it infuses. (You can just blitz 1/4 cup fresh mango and milk in the blender too; or if you don’t have fresh puree, use packaged.)
• Pre-heat your oven to 180 C and line a cupcake tin with liners.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and cardamom powder in a bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
• With a spatula, fold the flour mixture and the mango-milk mixture into the batter, alternately, mixing well after each addition. You should start and end with flour (flour-milk-flour-milk-flour.)
• Take half the diced mangoes and place in a bowl. Sieve 2 tablespoons of regular flour over them, and gently combine with a spoon. (This will prevent the mangoes from sinking to the bottom while baking.) Gently fold these mangoes pieces into the batter.
• Pour into cupcake moulds, filling batter 2/3 of the way up.
• Bake in the oven at 180 C for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Take cupcakes out of the oven and allow to cool completely before adding diced mangoes on top.

The fruit bits didn’t sink!