Mango Cupcakes

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Delicious Mango Cupcakes full of tropical flavor with a light and fluffy sponge, silky buttercream frosting, and surprise mango curd filling.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 412kcal

80 g Mango puree Fresh or frozen. Puree the mango in a food processor or blender and measure after.
½ tablespoon Lemon juice Freshly squeezed.
2 Egg yolks
50 g Granulated sugar Might need more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of the mango.
40 g Unsalted butter Room temperature. For a thicker mango puree, use ½ cup / 110g butter.

Prepare your cupcake tin by lining it with muffin liners and preheat your oven to 175℃ / 347℉ (no fan).
In a large bowl, cream the room-temperature butter and sugar for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy, then whip in the room temperature eggs one by one, and finally mix in the vanilla extract.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. This is your dry ingredients. Reduce the mixer speed to low speed and add the dry ingredients in thirds alternating with the room temperature milk. Do not overmix the batter at this point.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar with the baking soda. It will be super bubbly. Then, immediately fold the vinegar mixture into the batter just until it's combined.
Pipe or spoon the batter evenly into the cavities of your cupcake tin, filling each one about ¾ full. Bake the cupcake for about 20-22 minutes at 175℃ / 347℉ or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake them, as they can dry out.
Cool the baked cupcakes on a cooling rack. They must be at room temperature before frosting.

First, bring your butter to room temperature. Buttercream can only be prepared with softened butter, neither cold nor too hot (melted butter) will work.
Make a double boiler by placing a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Mix the egg whites and sugar in the bowl over the double boiler and whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reaches 160F / 71C.
Make the meringue; Add the egg white and sugar mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer and start whipping it with the whisk attachment. Continue whipping for 6 minutes until shiny, stiff peaks are achieved or until the bowl of the mixer is no longer hot.
Once the mixture reaches room temperature, switch to the paddle attachementand start adding the softened butter tablespoon by tablespoon on medium speed, then turn the mixer back on medium-high speed and whip it for an additional 4 minutes or until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and increases in volume.
Lastly, add the vanilla extract and salt and continue whipping for another minute until it is smooth and silky.
At this point, the Swiss meringue buttercream should have the perfect pipeable fluffy texture. If, for some reason, it is too thin, place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Move the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle.

Place the mango puree, lemon juice, egg yolk, and sugar into a heavy based saucepan over low-medium. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the room temperature butter in four stages, stirring until each addition is melted and incorporated.
Cook the mixture over medium heat stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. Stirring is important to prevent the egg yolks from curdling. After about 5 minutes, the mixture starts to thicken like custard and coats the back of a spoon - it will reach about 80C / 176F.
Remove it from the heat, and pour the cooked mango curd through a sieve. Pour curd into a jar or container and place plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. (This prevents skin forming on top.) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools in the fridge.
Leave the mango curd to set refrigerated for at least 4 hours, or ideally, overnight. Store any leftover curd in the fridge for up to a week.

Make a small hole in each of the cupcakes and fill them with about ½ tablespoon of mango curd. Then, frost the cupcakes with the Swiss meringue buttercream and decorate according to your liking with fresh mango, mint, and edible flowers.
The cupcakes are best served fresh. Any leftovers can be stored refrigerated for 2-3 days in an air-tight container.
Bring them back to room temperature before serving for the frosting to soften.

Ingredient notes:

Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy.
All cupcake ingredients must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, butter, and milk.
Use good quality high fat (82%) butter for making buttercream and cupcakes
It is key to use high quality vanilla for the best flavor, feel free to try my homemade vanilla extract.

Technique notes:

Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details, and science behind baking.
The baking soda and vinegar mixture is my signature baking hack for making cupcakes super moist and fluffy, do not skip it.
The temperature and texture of the butter are key when making buttercream. Wait until it is soft, however, avoid last-minute microwaving.
If you do not have a thermometer, another way to check the sugar egg white mixture is whether the sugar is fully dissolved (it should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
Do not add the butter before the meringue reaches room temperature. If it is too hot, it will melt the butter, resulting in a buttercream soup.
Note that the buttercream texture is best when the butter is at the right temperature (room temperature), and the mixture is freshly whipped. I like to use the frosting immediately or store it at room temperature in a piping bag for a few hours. If stored in the refrigerator, you will need to bring it back to room temperature before using it and might need to give it another minute or two to whip in the stand mixer to increase the volume again.
Baking these cupcakes takes 22 minutes in my oven. However, you should focus on the texture, not the time. Apply the toothpick test (it should come out clean) to avoid overbaked cupcakes. Do not overbake them, as that will result in a dry texture.