I love watching Master chef series. A few days back I was watching Junior Master Chef on Star world and loved the way the kids dished out terrific looking stuff..They looked so mature in handling stress, pressure and failure!! The kids were so confidant when it came to preparing dishes with ingredients that they had never even tasted before.


That made me think.Do I even allow my 4 year old to use a scissor,let alone a knife!?It is not being over protective or something in those line. I still see her as a baby and allowing her to use the scissors is like- ‘ouch’ for me!

Anyways,back to the star kids on the Junior chef, super singer / dancer, I read an article that was quite interesting. The author was trying to find out if the super star status for the kids was a cool idea or was it too much pressure for the kids.

When kids are subjected to so much fame and money, how do they handle it.Okay, the parents might put the money to use in a good way but the child carries the fame. Is the child really ready to shoulder fame at such a tender age? Being viewed by millions and then comes the school friends, neighbours, relatives look at this kid as a hero.

On the other hand, the child / children who lose in such competitions are on the other side of the scale. How do they handle the defeat? Same as above, they are on a live show and being defeated and made public and that makes it a very sad and stressful experience. Does the child feel he is a ‘failure’. Well, some children might if they are not groomed to take defeat in the same way as success.It all boils down to how kids cope up with fame or failure.

I am not sure if I would let my kids  be a part of such shows even if they have great cooking/ singing or dancing skills. But then maybe I will when they are old enough to handle the stresses….

 Well friends, what is your say on this topic?

******

Coming to today’s recipe, a simple and tasty cake. I don’t prefer to eat mangoes as such. My preferential form would be as Mango- milkshakes, ice creams, lassi or cake. Frankly I have never baked with Mangoes. You can see cakes with Dates / Banana and apples but no mango. One reason is that when I was in the orient, we did not have a OTG at home and stared baking in the microwave. Secondly, we did not get delicious mangoes there. We did see a lot of mangoes but on our first and subsequent purchases we knew for sure that we were wasting money in these fruits. They were either extremely sour or totally tasteless.  Thirdly, even if I had found tasty mangoes, I did not get a Eggless version that could be done in the Microwave.Thus no mango bakes in Seduce Your Tastebuds till now.

So when Grandpa came down to visit us this summer, he got us loads of Mangoes. While Lil Angel enjoyed eating them as such and in milkshakes, I knew I had to bake a cake with this awesome fruit.
Frequent power cuts and laziness kept putting off my idea until Lil Angel was literally begging me to bake a cake for her. Giving in to her wishes, here is the cake that spread a delicious aroma around the house and filled up eager and hungry tummies….

The recipe is from here and I have made some changes,actually added a few ingredients to get a beautiful crust for the cake. I made this in a loaf pan, but you can also make this into muffins / use a regular pan …

I used:
Mango puree – ½ cup
Warm water- ¼ cup
Sugar- ¾ cup
Milk powder- ¼ cup
Yogurt – ¼ cup
Vegetable oil – ¼ cup
Almonds, chopped- ¼ cup
Choco chips – ¼ cup
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Baking powder – ½ teaspoon
Baking soda – ½ teaspoon
Finely chopped almonds and chocochips for topping
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 175 degree C
  2. Sift together wheat flour , baking soda and baking powder.
  3. Add choco chips and chopped nuts to the flour.
  4. In a blender jar , blend together mango puree, oil, yogurt, sugar, milk powder till smooth.
  5. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and mix.
  6. Pour this into the prepared cake pan.
  7. Top it up with finely chopped nuts and choco chips.
  8. Bake at  350 degrees F / 175 degree C for half an hour or till a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  9. Cool on a wire rack
  10. Slice and serve….

Note :

  • Oven timings may vary so bake accordingly.
  • The topping is totally up to you. You can also bake this cake without the topping.
  • Using choco chips is also optional.
  • Adjust the quantity of sugar based on the sweetness of the mango.
Sending this to Radhika’s Let’s cook – Kid’s special and I love Baking #5, Smitha who is hosting Kids delight – What kids love ,a series started by Srivalli

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#17

Earlier in this months edition of Blogging Marathon…

Week – 1 Sun Dried Products

Day 1Sun dried Pressed Rice Crisps
Day 2Sundried Rice Crisps
Day 3 Sundried Potato Chips

Week – 2 Kids delight – Evening snacks / Tiffins

Day 1Crisp Paneer Fingers
Day 2Onion Podi Idli
Day 3 – Eggless Mango Cake – Recipe above.

Bon Appetit…

27 thoughts on “Eggless Mango Cake”

  1. I too will never allow my kid to participate in these shows until n unless they can understand how to withstand the fame n failure.

    Comming to the recipe, it was really awesome… Will try this one soon…

    Event: Dish name starts with M

  2. I was reading about some controversies on those kid's program. Personally I don't know if I would want my kids to be exposed to such pressure. I have no issues with other parents wanting to do it though. It's their choice..:)

    Coming to the cake, I can't believe you don't like to eat mangoes as such!…it's the reverse at my place. Everybody loves to eat it as such, that I don't get a chance to make dishes with it..:))..

    anyway that's a lovely cake, should make it sometime..

  3. Mangoes Mangoes everywhere!!!! Me too want to try it in Bakes!!! Cakes looks super delicious!!!!
    Its Good that kids these days have Lotzzz of Exposure, on the positive sides, these shows teach them how to handle fame and failure @ this age. Sai of last SS sr. failed in the finals in the jr. category years before but struggled and came back with a bang!!!! If my kiddo gets an opportunity i will definitely encourage him to participate!!!!

  4. I love the Junior masterchef series too and watch it every night without fail. As to whether they can handle the pressure or not, I am not sure, but from the show it looks as if they are thoroughly enjoying themselves.
    On another note….What??? You don't like mangoes??? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that.
    The cake sounds delicious.
    Whew…..that's one long comment…Sorry for hogging so much space/

  5. Love the cake.
    I think it would be better to let the kids to enjoy their childhood without any pressures. Though I haven't seen the program you are mentioning I have seen some singing, dance competetitions where the kids' can't take the disappointments / frustrations, which would have been not neccessary in the first place. I know some may argue that kids' should learn handling disappointments but I think there is a time for everything.

  6. I personally don't feel comfortable putting up the kids for a competition. The kids should be able to enjoy their childhood and their passions should be nurtured carefully. Handling pressures at a tender age might have disastrous results (look into the life of many prodigal kids). They definitely need to taste the competitive world when they grow up they will let us know when they are up to that kind of competition. 'Time' is the key factor here!!

    Coming to the cake, mango cake is a super hit at our place!! your cake looks so inviting too.

  7. Putting kids under pressure just little is what i will advocate. To much of either side is bad I can see two eg. right at home here. Just does not take part in any competition but the other one is in the thick of all competitions.. Wheer did I go wrong?

    Love the cake.

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