Summery Lime-Mango Shortcakes
I came up with this recipe to enter in a mango contest at the fair. With the sunny flavors of lime, mangoes, coconut, and berries, it is perfect for summer!
I came up with this recipe to enter in a mango contest at the fair. With the sunny flavors of lime, mangoes, coconut, and berries, it is perfect for summer!
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
- fruit:
- 2 ripe mangoes cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup fresh strawberries sliced
- cream:
- 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract optional
- shortcakes:
- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon grated lime zest
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- Carbohydrate 36.0363199621752 g
- Cholesterol 35.6439444649026 mg
- Fat 13.8521842139976 g
- Fiber 1.94245313102169 g
- Protein 5.33214337111019 g
- Saturated Fat 6.34088942247789 g
- Serving Size 1 1 shortcake (158g)
- Sodium 387.675319847643 mg
- Sugar 34.0938668311535 g
- Trans Fat 0.796671170828508 g
- Calories 287 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
- Combine mango, blueberries, and strawberries in a large bowl. Drizzle with lime juice and honey; mix well. Cover; reserve in refrigerator.
- Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a large heatproof glass or metal bowl. Let soak for 5 minutes. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring often until dissolved. Transfer to a small bowl; refrigerate until cool, about 10 minutes. Beat cream in the large bowl with an electric mixer. When cream begins to thicken, sprinkle in confectioners' sugar and coconut extract. Mix in cooled gelatin all at once. Whip until soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, white sugar, lime zest, poppy seeds, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat the egg and buttermilk in a small bowl, lightly stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Turn out onto a floured work surface; knead 3 to 4 times, or until dough just comes together. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness; cut with a 3 inch round biscuit cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake shortcakes in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes. Allow to cool slightly; split each cake in half horizontally.
- To assemble, arrange fruit on the bottom half of each cake. Spoon or pipe cream evenly over fruit. Top each with remaining biscuit halves.
Replacing traditional heavy cream with full-fat canned coconut milk changes the whipped topping into a dense, tropical-leaning blanket that complements the fresh mango and berries without melting prematurely on warm days. When adapting baked goods for dietary restrictions, substitution ratios matter immensely; solid vegetable shortening works well here as a dairy-free fat alternative that preserves the necessary flaky texture of the biscuit layers when cut into coarse crumbs. Baking these rounds at a high oven temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit guarantees rapid steam expansion inside the dough, creating a tall rise and golden exterior within fifteen to eighteen minutes. Although this specific formula yields twelve individual servings, the dry flour mixture can easily be halved or doubled depending on your headcount, provided you adjust the liquid buttermilk and egg components proportionally to maintain a workable dough moisture. Letting the unflavored gelatin bloom in cold water for precisely five minutes before dissolving it over simmering water ensures the whipped cream maintains its structural integrity when piped onto the fruit layers. Poppy seeds add a subtle crunch and visual speckling throughout the crumb, while grated lime zest releases essential oils directly into the dry ingredients when rubbed together with your fingers prior to cutting in the fat. Store leftover assembled shortcakes in the refrigerator immediately to keep the whipped dairy stable, though the baked biscuits taste best when consumed within twenty-four hours before absorbing too much moisture from the macerated fruit.
