Mango Opera Cake - the Architect's Ensemble

Yesterday was a long day at work. I felt like I was in a pressure cooker. Feeling so unproductive yet stressed is not a good thing, so I had to do something. After considering between breaking a few glasses in the kitchen or scream out loud, I chose the latter. I went to the bathroom and close all the doors tightly, and "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh~~~" That felt good. I felt so much better and cleared up my mind so that I could work through the rest of the day.

I must be extremely loud as my co-worker said she can hear me at her desk, and our washroom is outside our office and we turned on our noisy AC.

After the scream it all went well. I got through my job, made dinner in a jiffy and still have time to bake. It's my boss's birthday so I can't miss the excuse to make a cake.

Consider the limited time I had before bed I made an easy sponge cake with mango buttercream and mango jelly. I started baking the sponge cake just before 9pm and finished it in 2 hours!  That's setting a record in my portfolio.

I used one of the recipe book by a Japanese author and base on the recipe of a raspberry buttercream I gave it my own twist.  Consider the amount of time and availablity in my fridge I cheated a bit and used canned Alphonso mango puree. I have heard good praise about alphonso mango but this is the first time I try to use it for my cake.  Being familiar with Philippine mangoes I think I still prefer Philippines than India.

I got an interesting comment by the architect who came back from a site visit this morning, saying that the cake cross section looks extremely like the soil section he saw this morning. Concrete, sand, aggregate, contaminated soil, asphalt, sand, aggregate, etc, etc... Only my cake looks and tastes better of course!

Mango Opera Cake (5" square)
You will need:
1 recipe of sponge cake, bake in one 30cm x 40cm sheet pan
1 recipe of mango buttercream
2 recipes of mango jelly
simple sugar syrup for brushing
1 fresh mango
fruit glaze

Mango Buttercream
Ingredients:
15g water
35g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
90g soften butter, lightly whisked
60g alphonso mango puree

Method:

1. Boil water and sugar until 118 degrees celsius.
2. Gradually add hot sugar mixture while whisking egg yolk vigorously with an electric mixer.  Whisk on top of a water bath until 82 degrees. Continuously whisk until it is cooled to touch.
3. Add softened butter until incorporated.
4. Add mango puree.  Keep in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Mango Jelly
Ingredients:
100g mango puree
2g gelatin
1tbsp cold water

Method:
Soften gelatin with water and microwave for 9 seconds or until gelatin has dissolved. Add to mango puree and leave at room temperature until ready to assemble.

Assembly:

1.  Trim sponge cake to the size of a 5" square mousse mold. You will need 4 pieces and there will be leftover.
2. Wrap the bottom of the mousse mold with saran wrap. Thinly slice mango and arrange on the saran wrap.
3. Spread a layer of butter cream evenly on top of 1 piece of sponge cake. Flip over and lay it on top of the arranged mango slices. Brush sponge cake with sugar syrup.
4. Pour one recipe of mango jello on top of the sponge cake. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
5. Lay another piece of sponge cake over the chilled jello. Brush again with simple syrup.
6. Spread butter cream evenly and put in another piece of sponge cake. Lightly press it down to level.
7. Repeat step 4 and finish with a layer of sponge cake. The cake should now be level with the mold. Wrap it with saran wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
8. Flip the cake over and remove the saran wrap on the fruit. Apply fruit glaze. Wait until set and remove the mold. Trim off the cake edges to reveal the lovely layers.