Fluffy and golden vegan mango cake with a lush cream cheese frosting. This easy Summer desset uses less than 10 common pantry ingredients. And you only need one bowl to make this delicious cake!
This eggless mango cake is incredibly soft and tender. It's packed with real mangoes giving you the best possible mango flavour!
Video: how to make this vegan mango cake
Common ingredients you'll need
I'm a big fan of cakes which use only common pantry staples and this vegan mango cake is no exception. Even though this is an eggless cake, there are no store-bought egg replacers or strange ingredients! You will need:
- All-purpose or plain flour
- Sugar preferably regular cane sugar because we want the beautiful yellow/orange mango to shine through)
- Light-tasting oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
- Baking powder and soda. As this cake is PACKED with 3-4 mangoes, I added a little more raising agents to make sure the cake is fluffy.
- Plant-based milk
- Mango puree made by simply blending fresh or frozen mango. Or you can use canned mango puree.
- Apple cider or white vinegar to help make sure this cake is SOFT.
- Vanilla extract and salt
As always, all the ingredient amounts for this eggless mango cake are at the bottom of this post in the grey recipe box!
If you're using fresh mango, I'd recommend pureeing the flesh with a stick or stand blender. A food processor may work but it may create a chunky mango puree. The smooth yet viscous texture of mango puree actually acts as a natural egg replacer!
I packed this cake with 3-4 mangoes or of 2 cups of mango puree (nearly 500g). This gives the cake a beautiful mango flavour and colour. However we don't want to add TOO much mango as it can create an dense and heavy cake.
How to make this easy mango cake
First, add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until there are no lumps.
Simply add all your wet ingredients and mix until combined. The vegan mango cake batter should have a similar consistency to typical pancake batter (not too thin but not too thick). And there shouldn't be any pockets of flour or wet ingredients.
Baking the cake layers
As there's a lot of fruit in this eggless mango cake, it's best to bake the cake in thin layers (or in a muffin tin which works well). I'd recommend baking this cake in 2 x 20 cm (8 inch) cake pans.
The cake batter is thin enough that it'll naturally flatten out after you pour it into your cake tins. As this is a layer cake, if you have cake strips, I'd also recommend using them for this cake.
The mango cakes are ready when you can insert a skewer in the middle and it comes out clean. This is a very moist cake so a few crumbs on your skewer are fine - just make sure there's no wet batter on it.
Dairy free cream cheese frosting
The delicate and subtle cream cheese frosting complements the tropical flavour of the vegan mango cake.
Cream cheese frostings are notoriously soft. To overcome that, I recommend:
- Adding a little corn starch/flour. This absorbs the natural liquid in the cream cheese frosting which makes it firmer.
- Adding more powdered/icing sugar. The more sugar we add, the more stable the frosting!
- Creaming rather than whipping the frosting. This prevents unnecessary air from being incorporated into the frosting which can make it softer.
Questions and Answers
I've tried reducing the sugar for this recipe but the less sugar I used, the more dense the cake. Sugar doesn't only sweeten a cake but adds moisture and improves its texture.
Normally I'd recommend replacing the plain flour using a blend of 50% almond flour and 50% gluten free all-purpose flour (by weight ) OR a high quality 1:1 gluten free flour. However, I haven't tested this recipe with gluten free flour so can't vouch for results.
Whole wheat or spelt flour will make this cake heavier and more dense. I haven't personally tried it so if you do, let me know how you go!
Yes, I customised this recipe to make mango coconut cupcakes which you can see on my Instagram! I'd recommend using the recipe below and baking it in a muffin tin.
This cake will work well in a bundt tin or 1 x 30 cm (10 inch) cake pan. You'd need to bake the cake for longer (around 50 mins) or until you can insert a skewer in the cake and it comes out clean.
I wouldn't recommend baking the mango cake in a loaf tin. This recipe is high in fruit so benefits from being baked in thinner layers.
Yes! Simply substitute about 80g of the flour with 80g of dessicated coconut. The coconut will actually make the cake fluffier!
Check out my other vegan mango desserts or Summer desserts
- Easy Vegan Peach Crisp (oil free)
- Easy Vegan Passionfruit Cake
- Creamy Mango Passionfruit Bars
- Baked Mango Cheesecake Bars
- Mango and Coconut 'Weis' Bars
- Mango Peach Pies
Vegan Mango Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Dry cake ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) plain or all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) cane sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of any good-quality salt
Wet cake ingredients
- ~2 cups (480g) mango puree, approx 3-4 medium-size ripe mangoes (note 1)
- ⅔ cup (165g) dairy free milk, such as almond, soy or coconut
- ½ cup (125g) light-tasting vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream cheese frosting + decorations (optional)
- 3 cups (300g) icing sugar
- ½ cup (120g) vegan cream cheese, chilled
- ½ cup (115g) vegan butter, chilled
- 3 tablespoons (20g) corn starch / corn flour
- 3 tablespoons (45g) melted coconut oil, optional (use refined coconut oil for no coconut flavour)
- 1-2 mangoes, sliced or diced
Instructions
- Note: I'd recommend using grams for this recipe.
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line or grease 2 x 20cm (8-inch) round cake tins.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large-size mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until there are no more pockets of flour.
- Pour the batter into the 2 cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes. The cakes are ready when a skewer can be inserted in the middle and it comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
To make the cream cheese frosting
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan cream cheese and butter to a medium-size bowl. Cream until combined and smooth (see note 4).
- Add more icing sugar and/or the coconut oil for a firmer frosting. Cream cheese frosting is normally quite soft but it can be thickened and stablished with additional sugar.
- Chill the frosting until needed.
To assemble the cake
- When the cakes have completely cooled, slice the dome off one of the cakes. Place that cake on a serving plate.
- If your buttercream has been chilled, mix it a few times to make sure it’s smooth and soft. Spread or pipe around 1 cup of buttercream on the cake and place the remaining cake on top.
- Spread or pipe the remaining frosting on top and decorate with the remaining mangoes.
- Store in an airtight container until serving.
Video
Notes
- I managed to get around 160g of mango flesh from a medium Kensington Pride mango. However, if your mangoes are smaller or larger, you may need less or more mangoes. This recipe also works well with frozen or canned mango.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in January 2020 and updated in September 2021.
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help other readers and Rainbow Nourishments.
my cake came out so dense kind of like bread.. i did some adjustments to the amount of sugar and maybe that has an impact. also i used a 9x1.5 in pan which seemed a bit small for the amount of batter
Reducing the amount of sugar will certainly impact the texture. Sugar doesn't only add sweetness but dramatically changes the texture of a cake. Also yes, your cake pan is definitely be too short for this cake!
I made this cake today with wholemeal spelt flour and it turned out so good all my family enjoyed it and said it was delicious.
Thank you for recipe Anthea. Can't wait to try more of your vegan cakes they all look amazing!!?
So glad it worked with wholemeal spelt flour and your family enjoyed it! Thanks soo much for your feedback and kind words 🙂
Hi I haven't made this cake yet, so wondered if I can use tinned mango pulp rather than making it myself?
Hi Jayne, I haven't tried it with tinned mango pulp but from experience with other cakes, it would work 🙂
Thank you. Once I have made it I will let you know if it was a success. ☺
The cake isn't big enough for two 8" baking pans. You'll need to double the recipe for that.
Hi I am not vegan but I do not eat eggs so can I replace you recipes with dairy products , such as diary milk , butter and cream cheese etc.
Yes they should all work fine!