Coconut Swiss meringue buttercream mango-lime cake is made with moist lime cake, fruity mango ragout and light coconut buttercream. It’s a perfect way how to keep the summer mood throughout the whole year.
This is a very simple cake. Lime, mango and coconut are the three key ingredients, which I associate with summer, and they also make this exotic cake so sensational. It’s full of fresh tropical flavours.
Zingy lime, ginger and mango complement great the sweetness of the coconut buttercream. I really recommend using fresh ginger and fresh lime zest. Like that you’ll really make all of the flavours pop out.
The cake itself is based on lime flavour. The cake layers are packed with freshly grated ginger and lime zest. For some extra freshness, I also brushed each layer with lime juice.
Mango
For the mango ragout, look for a ripe mango. These are really easy to peel and you’ll get the most out of them. The yellow flesh, juice and aroma, all scream for summer. Keep some mango on a side for garnish and prepare the ragout with the remaining fruit. I also added a squeeze of lime. Like that you allow the mango to really shine with all of its flavours.
Here are two of my favourite fruit cakes: the first is the buttermilk blueberry cake and the second is a gorgeous peach cottage cheese crumble slice. Oh, and let’s not forget these Halloween monster strawberry cupcakes.
Swiss meringue buttercream
In quite some of my cake recipes, I showed you how to make French buttercream. Well, this time I wanted a buttercream that is not too sweet, but still delicious. Therefore, instead of a classic French buttercream, I tried my luck with the Swiss meringue buttercream.
A Swiss meringue buttercream has a creamy and silky texture, it’s thick but with a light buttery flavour and it holds well its shape, too. This buttercream comes together with only egg whites, sugar, butter and some aromas. Because meringue is the base of this buttercream, it will result in completely white. Therefore, it makes it ideal to colour or to add flavours of your preference.
Additionally, it doesn’t matter which buttercream you choose, there is only one thing you must do. Make sure you bring it to room temperature before serving. Only then, you can taste the creaminess and the full flavour of it.
Ingredients for a coconut swiss meringue buttercream mango-lime cake:
- 3 limes (juice and zest)
- 60 g fresh ginger (grated)
- 150 g butter (room temperature)
- 80 g brown sugar
- 100 g caster sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 3 eggs
- 190 g flour
- 10 g cornstarch
- 2 tsp of baking powder
Ingredients for mango filling:
- 1 ripe mango
- 60-80 ml mango juice
- 1 Tbsp of lime juice
- vanilla
- 5-6 gelatine leaves
Coconut Swiss meringue buttercream ingredients:
- 2 egg whites (ca 60-65 g)
- 90 g caster sugar
- 1 Tbsp of coconut syrup
- 150 g butter (room temperature)
To begin, preheat the oven to 170° C and line a baking tray (ca 30 x 40 cm) with baking paper. Grease the baking paper. Wash the limes, grate the zest and squeeze the juice into a cup. Set aside. Peel the ginger and grate it.
Then, combine butter, both sugars, a pinch of salt, lime zest and ginger in a medium bowl. Beat the butter until fluffy. At this point, stir in the eggs, one at a time until well incorporated.
In a bowl, combine flour, starch and baking powder. Stir it into the butter-egg batter until well combined. Pour the batter onto the baking tray and smooth it into one even layer (mine was about 0,5 cm high). Now, place the tray on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes.
Once it turns golden brown, remove it from the oven and baking tray. Flip it onto a clean parchment paper, in order to peel off the one on the bottom. After it has cooled off, wrap it into transparent foil, to prevent it from drying.
Mango ragout
For the mango ragout, peel the mango and cut it into slices. Keep a couple of slices aside and dice the rest. Then, place the mango dice into a saucepan, add the juice, lemon juice and vanilla and bring to a simmer. At the same time, soak the gelatine leaves in some cold water for about 10 minutes.
Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine and stir it into the mango ragout. Cook for a couple of minutes or until the gelatine dissolves. Pour it onto a tray or into a bowl with a flat bottom, cover with plastic foil (in direct contact with the ragout) and cool off completely.
Coconut Swiss meringue buttercream
To prepare the Swiss meringue buttercream, heat the egg whites with the sugar to 60°C over a water bath. Stir constantly so that the sugar dissolves and the egg white does not set. When the temperature has reached 60°C, remove from the water bath and allow to cool slightly. Then, beat until the mixture is cold to the touch and the egg whites are stiff and glossy.
At this point, add the butter in small bits to the egg white while stirring constantly. The cream might turn a bit watery or gritty at first but continue to mix it until a nice, smooth buttercream is formed. Finally, refine it with coconut syrup.
Afterwards, cut four identical rectangles (15 x 9 cm) out of the cake base. Put half of the meringue buttercream into one piping bag. Give the mango ragout a stir and place it into a second piping bag as well.
After all of the cake components are ready, build the cake. Place the first rectangle on a cake stand, brush it with lime juice, apply some buttercream (using the piping bag, create an 0,5 cm high edge) and on the inside of it, add the mango ragout.
Continue with the same steps until you lay the last rectangle onto your cake. Spread some buttercream all over the cake and using a cake scraper make the walls straight and smooth. Garnish the top of the cake with the mango slices you saved at the beginning.
Sprinkle some additional lime zest on the cake and its walls. In case the buttercream gets too soft, pop the cake into the fridge for 20 minutes.
Finally, take the coconut Swiss meringue buttercream mango-lime cake 15 minutes prior to serving it out of the fridge. Slice the cake and serve it with a nice glass of mango juice, white wine, coffee or tea.
Enjoy.
