Vegan Mango Coconut Cake

Method (cakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C fan and line three 8 inch loose base / push up cake tins with greaseproof paper. If you don’t have 3 cake tins you will have to bake the cakes separately. Just cover the unused batter with a damp tea towel until you’re ready to use it.
2. In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
4. Add the oil and vanilla into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
6. Divide the cake batter in half (pour half into a separate mixing bowl). Add the mango puree to one of the bowls, leaving the other plain vanilla. TIP: If you wanted to make the colours brighter, add a small drop of orange / yellow food gel.
7. Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins, alternating between the vanilla and mango in a swirl pattern in each tin, use a toothpick or skewer to swirl the batters together. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
8. Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in to the centre of the cake and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
9. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before removing them from the tins. Leave the cakes to cool fully on the cooling rack.  Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and add in the mango. Whip on high speed for around 5-8 minutes to incorporate it. If the buttercream is too thick, add some more chunks of cold butter. if it’s too soft, add more icing sugar. You want it smooth, creamy and airy.
3. Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop or pipe some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off-set spatula or pallet knife.
4. Optional: Add a light drizzle of mango puree to the middle of the buttercream and sprinkle over some desiccated coconut. Place the next cake layer on top and repeat.
5. Give the entire cake a crumb coat (thin layer of buttercream to help lock in any crumbs to prevent them in the final coat, using a cake scraper or pallet knife to get the sides smooth). Refer to video for example. 
6. Place the cake into the fridge to set for 15-20 minutes. You want the buttercream to be firm, this will make the final coat and applying the decorations easier.
7. Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a second/final coat, this time making it thicker, then using a cake scraper to make the edges of cake smooth.
8. Transfer any left over buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a medium sized star tip nozzle.
9. Coat the entire sides and top of the cake in desiccated coconut. TIP: As buttercream wont stick to the coconut, use a spoon to create remove some coconut where you’ll be piping the swirls so it sticks.
10. Pipe swirls of the buttercream around the top edges of the cake. TIP: Use a small spoon to create a well in the middle of the buttercream swirls and add in some mango puree (see video for example).
11. Decorate the cake with some fresh mango slices / chunks and rosemary. Make sure the mango slices are dried well otherwise they’ll make the buttercream moist and may slide down the sides of the cake. TIP: Dry the mango with some kitchen paper.
12. Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into slices, serve and enjoy!