As Thanksgiving approaches, I know all of you -- vegan or not-- are looking for great options to the same-old-same-old orange-colored dessert that typically graces your table. Well, I have one for you and every word of it is like a fresh, sweet, tropical kiss: Vegan Mango Cupcakes with Mango Buttercream Frosting.
You might also like these recipes for vegan mango cake and vegan mango bread.
Mmmm...As you already know, I love my vegan cupcakes, especially ultra-creamy, tender ones like these vegan vanilla cupcakes. After all, how can anyone not love portion-controlled indulgence?
And yes, I'll admit, these mango cupcakes are indulgent, and rich, although probably nowhere near as rich as a non-vegan version could be. Besides, all of us need a little indulgence every now and then, don't we? And what can be more comforting than a soft, fluffy cupcake covered with mounds of soft, fluffy frosting.
I use canned mango puree in these cupcakes because here in the United States, it's not easy for me to get my hands on the ultra-sweet and delicious Indian mangoes that these cupcakes so badly need. Try to use the puree of Alphonso mangoes (which is available at Indian stores) because this is by far the richest and most full-bodied and sweetest mango you'll ever taste, hands down. If you're lucky enough to live in India where mangoes are in season during the summer, use fresh mango puree by all means. Lucky you.
The mango buttercream for these vegan mango cupcakes is made with vegan butter (like Earth Balance) and shortening, with a dash of mango puree and trust me, one bite of this and you will feel like you've just died and gone to heaven. It's a beautiful, versatile icing and one that you can use to frost all kinds of cakes. You can leave out the frosting and still have a delicious cupcake, but why would you?
Here are the recipes for my Vegan Mango Cupcakes and Vegan Mango Buttercream Frosting. Enjoy, all!
More delicious mango recipes
Recipe card
Mango Cupcakes With Mango Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
For the Mango Cupcakes:
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (use green cardamoms)
- 1 ½ cups mango puree
- ⅓ cup avocado oil or any neutral oil
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Mango Buttercream Frosting:
- 16 tablespoon vegan butter (like Earth Balance, softened at room temperature)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup mango puree
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make Mango Cupcakes:
- Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix in the green cardamom powder.
- In another bowl, beat together until well-mixed the mango puree, oil, sugar and vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk just until you have a smooth batter. Do not overmix or overbeat.
- Divide the batter equally among 12 cups of a standard-sized muffin pan lined with cupcake liners. Smooth down the tops with the back of a spoon or spatula or you will have a lumpy top (it'll still taste delicious, though 🙂 )
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven about 27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make Mango Buttercream Frosting:
- Cream the butter with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, until fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Now add the mango puree and vanilla and half the sugar. Beat until mixed, then add the remaining sugar and beat until mixed. This should take no more than 2 minutes altogether.
- Frost the cupcakes after they've cooled completely.
Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
Anonymous says
hi,,i have a question,can i put the frosting in between the cake,,in layers? and then on top.
LittleMy says
i've actually just printed this recipe as well. i can't wait to try it!
oflittlemy.blogspot.com
Bhuvana says
hi vaishali
Your mango cupcake looks very yummy!!woule like to try it.But instead of cupcakes is it possible to make like a regular cake with these ingradients....
udit says
thank you for posting, good post, and I have tried it. 🙂
Katherine says
These cupcakes sound so good... then again, most cupcakes are good. =)
Vaishali says
Varshu, couple of possibilities come to mind-- your puree could have had a thinner consistency, or you may be using baking powder that's not fresh.
Varshu says
Hi Vaishali, i tried the cake recipe. it came out as a concave shape at the top instead of convex.
Can you spot me my fault?
Thank you.
Vaishali says
Tejas, since you obviously like making cake, you might want to make a strawberry glaze for the next time you bake a white cake. Put the preserve in a saucepan with a tiny bit of brandy or any liqueur, and warm until smooth and liquid. Strain, and brush over the cake. You can even your regular frosting on top, but this gives it some really delicious dimension.
TejasJJain says
I have tried your Mango cake and loved it!!
I have follow up question…..
I have strawberry preserve and I am looking for recipe (other than heart cookies) to use this jar. Please pass along your ideas
Mathu says
Hey Vaishali,
Am following your blog for a quite soome time now.This is the first recipe that I tried out.This turned out to be amazing piece of cake.Thanks for this recipe and for your effort of neatly putting all this in the blog.Keep your good work going...
Vaishali says
Hi Anonymous, the most likely reason I can think of is your oven. Ovens vary widely, especially gas and electric, and even when two ovens are set at exactly the same temperature, they can heat differently. For this reason I always advise readers to do the toothpick test before they take the cake out of the oven-- insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, or with a few crumbs sticking to it, it's ready. If it comes out with uncooked batter sticking to it, as yours should have, leave it in for longer. This is a great rule of thumb to follow for any baked cake or brownie or muffin.
Next time, give your cake a little more time in the oven and do the toothpick test before you take it out. For a cupcake I would do no more than one-minute increments since they are small and tend to bake fast. Hope that helps 🙂
Reva says
I tried this our and it was awesome. I reduced the sugar and it suited our tastes perfectly! Thanks a ton for the recipe.
Reva
anubhavati says
Hi Vaishali,
Am forver in love with mangoes and ive bookmarked this for tomorrow1s snack...shd try it soon and let u know
Shobha
Vaishali says
Tushita, yes, this will work as a cake 🙂
Tushita says
Hi Vaishali
I am looking to bake a mango cake, can i use the same recipe for it?
T
Tanvi says
This was my first time trying a vegan recipie and your mango cupcakes turned out AMAZING!!!!! No one could tell that they were eggless, much less vegan. I ended up making a 6-in cake and a few cupcakes out of it, and it was a hit. Thanks for posting (:
deep says
these LOOK amazing! and I just finished baking them for my husband's birthday tomorrow! I can't wait for my little one to dig into them!
I didn't make the same frosting..I just used cream cheese..esp since everyone at home has cholesterol issues! thanks for a yummy looking and diff. mango cake recipe!
Vaishali says
Ameya, you can use a variety of substitutes, depending on what type of cake you're making. For heartier cakes like carrot or banana cake bread, I'd go with flax meal. For lighter, airier cakes, I'd choose either some cornstarch or egg replacer powder or nothing at all. Some people also use bananas or tofu as an egg substitute in cakes.
You can read more on the Vegan Substitutes page under my masthead.
Thanks for your kind words 🙂
Ameya says
Hi Vaishali,
I have admired your blog for quite a while, and I am actually in the process of setting up my own food blog. I made these cupcakes for my friends, and they were fantastic! The only changes I made were to substitute 1/4 cup almond flour for 1/4 cup of the all-purpose flour(because I like almond flavor) and to use ghee instead of oil. Can you please tell me, in your experience, what is the best way to replace eggs in cake recipes that call for eggs? Thanks,
Ameya
Vaishali says
Anonymous, you are probably overbeating it. I've never had a problem with the shortening or Earth Balance curdling. Are you using mechanized beaters, as I do? You might try slowing down a bit.
Sainila, I haven't baked these as a sheetcake but I don't think it would be a bad idea. I do have a mango bread recipe that is of course a cake. You can try that, if you like-- .
It uses flaxseed instead of egg replacer and you can use all-purpose flour instead of whole-wheat-pastry flour if you want a fine-textured crumb.
You can buy vegan confectioners sugar off the web and maybe at Whole Foods, but usually I just give vegan cane sugar or turbinado a whir in my coffee grinder. It's a mess to clean after. Add some cornstarch for a finer texture.
sainila says
Thanks for the recipe. Can i use the same qty to make a sheet cake? Tomorrow is my son's birthday and I want to bake this for him. Pl reply ASAP. Do i need a egg substitute if its a sheet cake instead of cup cakes? Also we dont use white sugar since its not vegan. we use cane sugar or turbinado sugar. I hope u are aware that confectioners sugar is not vegan. so what do u use in ur frosting? I see u hv used confectioners sugar. would really appreciate ur early reply since I need to bake this tmr. THanks a million.
Anonymous says
when I beat earth balance(did not add veg shortening) with sugar. It breaks like the way milk curdles on adding lemon juice....Urs looks very nice creamy and fluffy???
Lauren says
Just made these today for my son's first birthday and they turned out great! I wanted something with no eggs and no dairy since he has sensitivities. I couldn't find any mango puree so I just whizzed up some fresh mangoes with some canned peaches. I used melted coconut oil since it is better for you and the taste complimented the tropical mangoes! I sweetened them with a mixture of rapadura/honey and palm sugar. They took about 5 minutes longer to cook for me and still seemed a bit gooey in the middle... BUT after they cooled a bit they were perfect- cakey and yummy and my son made a huge mess of it , it was great 🙂
didn't ty the frosting though as shortening kind of scares me 🙂 Went the non-vegan route and whipped creme fraiche with some sugar and vanilla ( he's ok with cultred dairy) anyway, it was pretty tasty but not particularily thick.
Thanks for the great recipe!! I'll be making this again!
simply.food says
Mango cup cakes look delicious and so cute.
Anonymous says
I just made these cupcakes today. Followed the recipe to the T, would not change anything here.
I took it to work and all of them were gone in less than 10 minutes.Love you blog and keep those recipes coming, am going to try the Tofu patia today.
Great blog! Thanks.
Harini says
Hi I am a new blogger and I came across ur blog from egglesscooking.com and I absolutely love this mango cupcakes...hands down..shall try this recipe this weekend..kudos!
Vaishali says
Krystyna, there are many brands of vegetable shortening in the market-- Crisco is the most commonly available one. Always make sure you buy shortening that says it has no transfats.
krystyna says
Sounds very yummy...
but I don't know
what is
8 tbsp "vegetable shortening"?
Thank you Vaishali!
myspicykitchen says
Scrumptious cupcakes!
Madhuram says
Vaishali, I baked these today and it came out beautifully. I used the mini bundt pans and this measurement gave 5 small cakes. The taste was very good. I think I would reduce the quantity of sugar the next time and also the cardamom powder to 1/2 teaspoon.