Mango Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cake

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, rubbing the sides with coconut oil. Set aside.

Put coconut sugar and melted coconut oil in a bowl and blend with a handheld electric mixer.

Separate the egg white and egg yolks, adding the yolks to the sugar mixture and the whites to a separate bowl to be used later.

Add molasses and vanilla to the mixture and beat until well combined. Set aside. (See note.)

Place tapioca starch, 3/4 cup coconut flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and ground cloves into a separate bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Stir mango with remaining coconut flour and set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with clean beaters to stiff peaks, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Set aside.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet sugar/molasses mixture and beat, scraping down the sides as necessary. Gently fold in the egg whites to the mixture until no white streaks remain.

Fold the mangos gently into the cake, making sure to scrape all the coconut flour in with the mangos.
Split the cake batter between the two prepared cake pans and place them in the oven until a toothpick can be inserted in the middle and come out clean, about 29–30 minutes. Let cool in the pan completely.

For the frosting:
Open the cans of chilled coconut cream and scrape just the hard cream from the tops of the can, leaving the liquid at the bottom. Place the cream, along with honey, in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

Place one cake, bottom side up, on a cake pedestal. Spread 3/4 of the cream on top, and then gently place the other layer on top, bottom side up.

Spread a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, you just need to seal the crumbs. Place in the freezer until the cream feels just set, about 30 minutes to 1 hour (see note). Place the remaining cream in the refrigerator as well.

Spread the rest of the cream over top of the cake and pipe some along the outside edge (your coconut cream needs to be pretty set to do this.) You can either then freeze the cake for another 30 minutes to set the frosting, or devour immediately.

For the optional mango rose garnish, slice the mangos in half. Slice 2 of the halves lengthwise into very thin strips (about 1/8 inch or thinner.) Slice the remaining half very thinly crosswise.

Starting with the longest pieces of mango, lay them around the outside of the cake, overlapping just slightly. Work your way into the center using the shorter pieces.

Roll one long piece of mango and place it into the center to create the middle of the rose.

Notes:
1. As with all gluten free baking, please weigh your flour to ensure accurate results
2. It’s important to add everything as written. If you add baking powder to molasses and let it sit before baking it, it will affect results. You also don’t want to leave beaten egg whites too long or they will deflate. So follow directions as written.
3. Your crumb coat layer of frosting will turn a mottled brown from the cake. This is normal! The cake does also get mottled brown/white finish after it’s all decorated if you let it sit. So, if you want a pure white cake, frost it and serve immediately. However, both Mr. FFF and I thought it looked really pretty when it got mottled colors!