Gluten Free: Mango Upside-down Cake

I still remember the time I made pineapple upside-down cake in school cookery class. Even in 1990's Glasgow, I was struck by just how retro-tastic this bake was. Complete with pineapple rings with glace cherries in them, this cake reminded me of my Mum's 1970's Delia Smith books. I like to think my baking prowess has moved on from those days (but, probably not), so when the urge to make upside-down cake arose I wanted to use a slightly less garish fruit.

Mangoes are in season right now and that season only lasts for about 10 minutes (you could use tinned mango in this cake, but have you tried mangoes when they're in season?!) The delicately floral, sweet flesh of the mango is perfect for baking because cooking it releases its juices, even if the fruit isn't completely ripe to start with.

Upside-down cakes are a great gluten free bake, since the fruit makes a syrup on the bottom of the pan, which then spreads through the rest of the sponge when you turn it out. No more dusty sponge cakes for us! The whole effect of the cake is lost if it sticks to the pan, so oil up that cake tin like it's a male stripper at a hen party.

Mango Upside-down Cake

You'll need

• 1 ripe mango
• 100g + 1 tbsp butter, softened
• 100g + 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 125g gluten free self raising flour mix (I'm digging Asda FreeFrom Self-Raising Mix at the moment, or Doves Farm Organics make a good one, too)
• 2 tbsp milk

To make

• Grease a 20cm round cake tin, then line with a circle of baking paper. Preheat your oven to 190°C (180°C for fan ovens).
• De-stone your mango, then peel and cut into 1cm slices. Mix 1 tbsp each of butter and sugar and spread over the baking paper on the base of your cake tin. Arrange the mango slices on the butter and sugar mixture. (This will all combine in the oven to make your syrup.)
• Whisk the remaining butter and sugar together until the mixture no longer feels grainy. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well.
• Sieve in the self raising flour mix and continue to whisk until smooth. Add the milk and combine.
• Carefully pour the cake batter over the mango slices. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and springy to the touch.
• Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out (the sponge will shrink a bit making it much easier to un-mould) and, if the cake is too rounded on top, trim to even it out. Turn out and leave to continue cooling to room temperature before serving.