Tropical cake

To make the tropical cake, first prepare the sponge cake: in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, pour the eggs along with the muscovado sugar 1 and the granulated sugar 2 and beat everything until you obtain a light, fluffy and frothy mixture 3.

Add the all-purpose flour 4 and the previously sifted potato starch 5 and mix gently with a spatula from bottom to top so as not to deflate the mixture. Pour the obtained batter into a round 9-inch diameter mold that you have previously buttered or lined with parchment paper 6 and bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for 30 minutes. Once baked, flip the sponge cake over a wire rack and let it cool completely.

In the meantime, you can take care of the papaya chantilly: remove the seeds 7 and the skin and cut 180 g of pulp into cubes 8, then blend it with an immersion blender 9.

Strain the papaya puree to make it smooth and homogeneous 10. In a saucepan, pour 1/3 cup of cream, the brown sugar 11, and the papaya puree 12 and heat the mixture over medium-low heat.

When the mixture reaches just below boiling point, add the cornstarch 13 and stir with a whisk for about 5 minutes until you achieve a thick and uniform cream 14. Pour the cream into a bowl 15, cover with plastic wrap, and let it cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour: you will need 150 g to make the chantilly.

When the sponge cake has completely cooled, cut it horizontally into 3 equal thickness discs 16. After the papaya cream has chilled, you can continue the preparation of the chantilly: pour the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream into a bowl, add the seeds of the vanilla bean 17, and whip it with electric mixers 18.

When the cream is well whipped, add the cold papaya cream 19 and gently mix with a spatula to incorporate it without deflating the mixture 20 21.

In a separate bowl, also whip the cream you will use for decoration and transfer about half of it into a piping bag without a nozzle. At this point, you are ready to assemble the cake: place the first sponge cake disc on a turntable and brush it with coconut milk 23, then create a border of whipped cream using the piping bag 34.

Add half of the papaya chantilly in the center and spread it with a spatula, staying within the whipped cream border 25. Cover with the second sponge cake disc 26 and repeat the operation for the second layer, both for soaking and filling. Finally, place the third and final sponge cake layer 27.

Cover the surface with whipped cream 28 and place the cake in the refrigerator while you peel the mango and slice it thinly using a vegetable peeler 29. Now you can move on to decoration: create a rose by placing the mango slices starting from the center and reaching about 1 to 1 1/4 inches from the edge of the cake 30.

Finally, decorate the upper edge with the remaining whipped cream (we used a piping bag with a drop-shaped nozzle) and sprinkle with shredded coconut 32. The tropical cake is ready to be served 33!