My Layer Sponge Cake with Mango and pistachio Filing

Two-three layer sponge cake with pistachio and mango filling - mango mousse or mango jelly in between the layers.

ingredients

Filling:
1. Pistachio nuts, chopped finely
2. Mango Mousse (see recipe Mango Mousse)
or
Mango Jelly:
Ripe fresh mangoes, chopped in small cubes and mashed (substitute with canned sweetened mango puree)
Sweetened condensed milk
Lemon juice, ~5% of the total volume of the jelly
Corn starch to thicken
Sugar to taste (don’t need if sweetened condensed milk and sweetened mango puree)
or
fresh ripe mango slices
whipping cream

1
Preparing the baking pan:
2
Lightly oil and flour a metal or pyrex pan so that the cake doesn’t stick to the pan. It is important to keep the cake in one piece.

1
Making the sponge cake:
2
1. Sift cake flour, set aside.
3
2. Line bottom and sides of an 18cm (7 inch) round pan with parchment paper, set aside.
4
3. Pre-heat oven to 170degC. Position rack at the lower bottom of the oven.
5
4. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the beater should leave a ribbon-like texture when the batter is lifted up). Turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.
6
5. Add sifted cake flour into the batter. With a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. Take care not to deflate the batter. (To ensure proper folding in of the flour, you can add the flour in three separate additions.)
7
6. Add the melted butter, fold with spatula until well blended
8
7. Add in fresh milk, vanilla extract and fold in gently with spatula.
9
8. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30~35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

1
Taking the cake out:
2
When the cake is done, let it cool for 5 min outside the oven, then unmold and invert onto cooling rack (careful not to break it!), cool completely.

1
Making mango jelly:
2
1. In a small pot, warm mango mash or puree and the condensed milk.
3
2. Add the lemon juice and corn starch little bit at a time until the consistency is thick enough to be a jelly. Make sure to stir apart any clumps.
4
3. Turn off the stove, the jelly will thicken slightly as it cools.
5
Making the icing:
6
In a mixing bowl, combine the icing ingredients, stir to mix well. Stir a lot to make it light and fluffy.

1
Assembling the cake:
2
1. Slice the cake horizontally into 2-3 layers. For each layer, trim away the sides by about 2~3mm carefully with a knife, so that there is no crust and the resulting layers are slightly smaller than 18 cm.
3
2. Place one layer of the sponge cake in an 18cm round serving pan with a removable base (or use a cake ring or springform pan). Spread about 1.5 cups of filling on the sponge layer. Make sure not to overflow since it will be messy when you put the icing.
4
3. Repeat with the second layer of sponge cake, followed by the filling. This time, sprinkle pistachio nuts generously as well on the filling.
5
4. Place the last layer of sponge cake. Gently tap/bang the pan on the table to remove any empty air pockets in between the sponge layers and the filling.
6
5. Paste the icing around and on top of the cake with a butter knife or small spatula. If no icing, simply spread the filling on the top surface evenly and do step 7.
7
6. Decorate fruits on top of the icing in a circle around the perimeter of the top surface.
8
7. Leave the cake to chill in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours. The icing will harden as it cools.
9
8. Remove cake from fridge, unmold. If you used fruits, spread the remaining mango filling in the middle of the circle evenly.
10
9. Decorate as desired on the hard surface (pipe rosettes or borders) - not on the soft filling.
11
10. Keep the cake in the fridge before serving.