These mango cupcakes are fluffy, sweet, and bursting with fresh mango coulis.
Nothing says 'summer' like the taste of mango. These easy mango cupcakes have that delicious mango flavor in every bite with fluffy mango sponge, silky smooth mango buttercream, a mango coulis filling, and more mango on top of the cupcakes! Everything is made with real mango turned into a fresh mango puree and then added to the recipe - no artificial flavors or mango extract is needed to make this perfect summer cupcake.
I love baking with fresh fruits in the summertime. If you're looking for more fresh fruit recipes, check out my Raspberry Cupcakes or my Fraisier Cake recipe. Though this easy mango cupcake recipe is pretty hard to beat!
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Ingredients
Mangoes - Of course, you'll need mangoes for these mango cupcakes - there's no artificial flavoring here! I used fresh mangoes, but you could also use frozen and it would be just as good. Make sure you find nice ripe mangoes for the best flavor.
Sugar - You want to use white sugar in this recipe and make sure it's superfine (caster sugar in the UK).
Lemon Juice - A squeeze of lemon juice just helps to keep the coulis looking and tasting fresh, and cuts through the sweetness a little. You can use fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice, depending on what you have.
Flour - I find this recipe works best with cake flour as it creates a really fluffy cupcake, but if you can't get your hands on cake flour then all-purpose flour will also turn out great.
Butter - Use unsalted butter and make sure it is at room temperature before beginning to bake.
Eggs - We need whole eggs in the cupcake recipe and egg whites for the Italian Meringue Buttercream. You can keep the spare egg yolks and use them in something like my Strawberry Custard Tarts. Make sure you use large eggs.
Vanilla - Vanilla adds depth to the flavor and compliments the mango. Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, but try to avoid vanilla essence.
Milk - The gorgeous texture of the mango cake is partially thanks to the milk. For best results, use whole milk, but the recipe will still work with whatever milk you have on hand.
Oil - The oil helps to make really moist cupcakes. I use vegetable oil, but you could also use canola oil or any flavorless oil.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Mango Coulis
The mango coulis is used in every element of this recipe as an ingredient in the cake and buttercream, and as both a filling and a topping. It's best to make it ahead of time so it has a chance to cool completely before you add it to your recipe.
- Start by slicing your mango. If you're not sure how to do this, I found a fantastic tutorial on youtube all about how to cut and dice mangoes.
- Add the mango, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat.
- Heat the mango chunks until they start to bubble, you'll notice the mango juice starting to release and the mango becoming softer, keep going for about 10 minutes or until the mango is soft enough to squish with your spoon - like boiled potatoes.
- What you now have is a mango compote, let the compote sit and cool for a few minutes, then blend using either a blender, food processor or a handheld blender, until completely smooth with no chunks. This is now a homemade mango puree.
- For the last step to turn it into a mango coulis, pass the mango purée through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining mango pulp or fibers and make a wonderfully smooth mango sauce (coulis).
- Cover with plastic and let cool completely before using.
How to make Mango Cupcakes
This is my classic vanilla cupcake recipe with the mango coulis added in. The recipe uses the reverse creaming method to make super soft and fluffy cupcakes - the perfect base for fresh mango cupcakes!
- Preheat the oven to 335°F / 170°C and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Mix the milk with the eggs and vanilla, whisk slightly, and then set aside.
- Place the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and turn it on low with your paddle attachment.
- Slowly add the butter, one small chunk at a time. Once it's all in it should look kind of like chunky breadcrumbs. You could also use a hand mixer for this.
- Add the oil and mango coulis and slowly turn your mixer up to a medium speed. Beat for exactly two minutes.
- Scrape the sides of your mixing bowl to make sure there are no lumps of the flour mixture, then turn the. mixer back onto a low speed.
- Add the milk and egg mixture slowly and mix on low until just combined.
- Divide the cupcake batter into your cupcake liners. I like to use an ice cream scoop to make sure they are all the same size, but a spoon will do the trick.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until the top of the cupcake is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let sit for five minutes in the muffin pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely - be gentle as this is a very soft and delicate sponge and may break if not handled with care.
How to Make Mango Buttercream Frosting
The beauty of the mango coulis is you can add it to pretty much any buttercream recipe to make a delicious mango frosting. I used my Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe and absolutely LOVED the results. The silky smooth texture worked so well with the fruity mango flavor and fluffy delicious cupcakes - I highly recommend using Italian Meringue Buttercream for these mango cupcakes.
If you want something a little easier to make, I recommend Russian Buttercream which still has the silky smooth texture but only has two ingredients and is a lot simpler to make.
Whatever kind of frosting you choose, make the buttercream according to the recipe, then add mango coulis according to taste and mix in until combined. For one batch of my Italian Meringue Buttercream I would use between ½ a cup and 1 cup of mango coulis - depending on how powerful you want the mango flavor to be.
How to Fill and Decorate
- Once your cupcakes have completely cooled, use a cupcake corer or a spoon to scoop out the center of the cupcakes.
- Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mango coulis into the center of each cupcake. You can replace the little 'lids' of cake back on top if you like, or you can just eat them.
- Spread or pipe your mango buttercream onto the cupcakes - I used a piping bag with the end snipped off, without a nozzle.
- Use the back of a teaspoon or a palette knife to make a little dip in the center of the frosting and spoon even more mango coulis into that dip.
Substitutions
Fresh or Frozen Mango - You can use frozen mango for this recipe instead of fresh. As the mango is all being cooked you can still get the delicious juicy mango flavor using frozen fruit. If you are using frozen mango, use about 1 ¼ cup diced mango for each fresh mango in the recipe.
Variations
Mango Coconut Cupcakes - Replace the milk in the recipe with coconut milk and sprinkle some toasted coconut on top of the cupcake.
Vanilla Mango Cupcakes - You could keep the cupcakes as a vanilla flavor by leaving out the mango coulis in that part of the recipe, and adding extra mango flavor in the frosting.
Equipment
- Standard muffin tin
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Cupcake liners
- Saucepan
Storage
Store these cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature, on top of paper towels to absorb any condensation. They will keep like this for 3-5 days.
Recipe
Mango Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Mango Coulis
- 4 mangoes fresh or frozen*
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
For the Mango Cupcakes
- ¾ cup Milk 177g
- ¼ cup Vegetable Oil 72g
- 3 Eggs
- 2.5 cups Cake Flour 312g
- 1 ¾ cups White Sugar 350g
- 1 ½ tablespoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 sticks Butter 227g (room temperature)
- ¾ cup Mango Coulis as made above
For the Mango Italian Meringue Buttercream
- 4 Egg Whites approx 160g
- 1 ¼ cups White Sugar 267g
- ⅓ cup Water 80ml / 80g
- 3 sticks Unsalted Butter 340g
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Mango Coulis as prepared above
Instructions
Make the Mango Coulis
- Slice your mango and place all the flesh into a saucepan.4 mangoes
- Add sugar and lemon juice to the mango and heat over medium-low heat, stirring regularly to avoid burning or sticking.1 cup Sugar, 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- Let it come to a simmer and continue to cook until the mango has broken down and the juices have thickened slightly - about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a blender or food processer and blitz until smooth.
- Pass the mango puree through a sieve to remove any fibres.
- Cover in plastic wrap and let cool completely before using.
Make the Mango Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 335°F / 170°C and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Mix the milk with the eggs and vanilla. Whisk together lightly and set aside.3 Eggs, 1 tablespoon Vanilla
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of your mixer and turn on low with your paddle attachment.1 cup Sugar, 2.5 cups Cake Flour, 1 ½ tablespoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Slowly add the butter, one small chunk at a time. Once it's all in it should look kind of like chunky breadcrumbs.2 sticks Butter
- Add the oil and mango coulis and slowly turn your mixer up to a medium speed. Beat for exactly two minutes.
- Scrape the sides of your bowl to make sure there are no lumps, then turn the. mixer back on low.
- Add the milk/egg mixture slowly and mix on low until just combined.
- Divide the batter into your cupcake liners and bake for 18 minutes or until golden on top and slightly springy to the touch.
- Let sit for five minutes in the muffin pan and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Mango Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Make a batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream as outlined in this recipe.4 Egg Whites, 1 ¼ cups White Sugar, 3 sticks Unsalted Butter, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 1 cup Mango Coulis
- Add 1 cup of mango coulis to the buttercream immediately after making the frosting. Whip it in for 1 minute to make sure it is well incorporated.
- For extra smooth buttercream, switch to a paddle attachment and mix the frosting on the lowest setting for 1 minute to knock out any large air bubbles.
Assemble Mango Cupcakes
- Once cupcakes have completely cooled, use a cupcake corer or spoon to core out the middle of the cupcakes.
- Fill each cupcake with 1 teaspoon of mango coulis. You can either put the 'tops' back in the middle or just eat them - it doesn't make a difference.
- Frost the cupcakes with the mango buttercream - you can pipe the frosting on or spread it on with a palette knife.
- Use a knife or spoon to make a small dip in the top of the frosting. Spoon more mango coulis into these dips.
Notes
Nutrition
FAQ
What's the difference between mango coulis and mango puree?
Mango Purée is made by pureeing the mango with a blender to make a smooth mixture. To turn the puree into a coulis, you pass it through a sieve to remove all the extra pieces of pulp and fibres. Coulis is like a smooth sauce that you might be served with a dessert, whereas puree may be used in smoothies, cocktails and desserts as an ingredient. In this recipe, we take the extra step of straining the mango puree as we also put the mango coulis inside and on top of the cupcake and it's more enjoyable to eat if the coulis is nice and smooth.
Yes absolutely, just replace each fresh mango in the recipe with 1 ¼ cups of diced frozen mango.
Chris Radwanski
Juicy juicy mangoes! I tell you what, that coulis sure did taste like mangoes! The cupcakes were exceptionally moist and delicious.
Jules
haha i'm glad you liked them! 🙂
Andrea
These were a absolute hit at our summer bbq
Jules
So happy to hear it! 😀 Mango is a great summer flavour!
Kim Hickenbottom
We made these and the end result is not as pictured. The cupcakes turned out doughy and dense, leading is to believe that the coulis should not be added to the cupcake mix but rather piped in the cooked cupcake. Otherwise, the taste was okay. I would cut the sugar as they were a little sweet for our liking.
Carly
I was wondering the same. When and how to add the mango coulis is definitely not clear
Jules
Hi Kim and Carly,
Sorry if this is unclear. You add the mango coulis at the same time as the oil - in step 5 of the recipe. Hope this helps!
Jules
Hi Kim, Sorry to hear your cupcakes didn't turn out great! If they are doughy and dense it sounds like they maybe needed a little longer in the oven. Every oven is different so some might need a little longer than what a recipe states. I do add the mango coulis to my cake batter, but you can also leave it out if you prefer! I hope your next batch turns out great! 🙂
Daniela
This was amazing! A family hit - so moist and not overly sweet. I didn’t make the creme and they came out soft so I flipped them upside down before adding the mango and it was like a delicious moist mango upside down cake. Wonderful and my family is already asking me to make it again! Giving 4 stars because it was difficult to make a well in the cupcakes and the recipe would have been easier to follow if the total amounts per ingredients were also listed for ease.