I adore this recipe for a homemade mango filling. It’s useful for so many purposes. some links in this post are affiliate links that earn me a commission if you purchase through them.
For my son’s fifteenth birthday, he told me I could make any cake I wanted for him. No pressure there, right?
Every year, I make a homemade cake, and their requests vary from a s’mores cake to a light lemon filled cake to my daughter’s Kit Kat cake this year. While my son’s cake didn’t turn out quite as planned, it made a delicious trifle that everyone loved.
Between the cream cheese whipped cream and the mango curd I used for a filling, he loved it and even better, I have some left over to use later.
I plan to make pancakes this weekend and use it over them. And it might possibly make it into a bowl with some vanilla ice cream, too. This is so much more than a delicious cake filling.
This easy mango filling is technically a mango curd. It’s simple to make and inspired by the lemon curd, strawberry curd, and pineapple curd I love to make and enjoy. Honestly, I almost made one of those for his cake, but I may have bought four pounds of frozen mango, so….
I’m glad I did! Generally I use all that frozen mango to make mango lassi for breakfast, but I’ll happily sacrifice some to make mango curd any day.
Now the trick is what to do with my leftover egg whites. I know I could be healthy and make an egg white omelette or create some sous vide egg bites, but I know me. I’ll probably make homemade marshmallow fluff just because I can.
How to Make Homemade Mango Filling
You can use either fresh mango or frozen mango chunks. I’ll be honest, I prefer the frozen mango chunks. I know they’re always ripe, they’re precut, and they’re pretty much the same price as buying whole mangoes.
If you use frozen mango, add them to a bowl and let them thaw in the fridge overnight or gently defrost them in the microwave so they aren’t completely frozen.
Use a blender to puree the mango, whether fresh or frozen. Ensure it’s as close to a liquid as possible.
Especially if you use fresh mango, make sure you strain the puree into a heavy pot to remove any fibers. Frozen mango often won’t have as much or any fiber, so it’s less critical.
Add the sugar, lime juice, and egg yolks to the pot and whisk. Turn heat to medium low and whisk constantly to ensure the mixture heats evenly.
You can do this with a double boiler, but I’ve found using a cast iron pot and whisking works just as well. And it’s much simpler and one less piece of equipment to worry about.
Whisk for 7-10 minutes until the mixture thickens to the point that it leaves “streaks” from the whisk. At that point, remove it from the heat.
Cut butter into five or six pieces. Add them one or two at a time to the homemade mango filling, whisking until it melts and incorporates before you add the next piece.
Once you add all the butter, carefully pour the mango filling into a liquid measuring cup – two cups or larger! – and use the measuring cup to carefully pour it into a glass jar. Place in the fridge and store for up to two weeks.
Have you ever made homemade mango filling?
Easy Mango Filling
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen mango chunks
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 egg yolks
- 4 tablespoons butter unsalted
Instructions
- Thaw mango overnight in fridge or defrost mango in microwave, as needed.
- Thoroughly puree mango in blender. Strain puree into heavy pot to remove any fibers.2 cups frozen mango chunks
- Add sugar, lime juice, and egg yolks to pot and whisk. Turn heat to medium low and whisk constantly to ensure the mixture heats evenly.1/3 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons lime juice, 4 egg yolks
- Whisk for 7-10 minutes until mixture thickens to the point that it leaves "streaks" from the whisk.
- Remove it from heat.
- Cut butter into five or six pieces. Add them one or two at a time, whisking until incorporated. Repeat with remaining pieces.4 tablespoons butter
- Carefully pour into a liquid measuring cup, then pour into a glass jar. Place in fridge and store for up to two weeks.
Notes
- You can use either fresh mango or frozen mango chunks. I'll be honest, I prefer the frozen mango chunks. I know they're always ripe, they're precut, and they're pretty much the same price as buying whole mangoes.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
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Can your mango filling be frozen so I can use it on another cake later on?
I have not ever tried it, but it *should* work. it’s at the very least worth a try. If you do it, please report back to let me know how it goes. If you have extra, it makes a great fruit dip to enjoy outside cake, too. My kids love dipping strawberries, etc in it.
Is this thick enough for a pie filling? I’m thinking a graham cracker, pecan, cinnamon crust with a meringue topping. I have the mango curd made and on the fridge already, can I thicken it with something after it is already made?
Once it’s made and refrigerated, it’s hard to thicken it further. If you heat it, you will degrade the thickener already in there, which makes it a challenge. It does thicken considerably as it cools. It could work for a pie, but I haven’t done that myself. That pie you describe sounds delicious!
What are the ingredients in grams?
I haven’t done the measurement in grams before! I know that sugar is 66 grams for 1/3 cup (1 cup is 200 grams). I just weighed my frozen mango, and the two cups I use is approximately 375 grams. I hope that helps! The tablespoons etc are fairly standard measurements.
Can i substitute anything for the yolks?
I have never tried a substitution for the egg yolks, so I cannot vouch for it, but I have heard of using condensed milk (in which case, I would lower the sugar, since it is fairly sweet already). This recipe is written to use egg yolks and there isn’t a great 1:1 substitute that I know of that will give the same creaminess and taste that the yolks do.
If I make the curd a few days ahead as cake filling, do I need to let the refrigerated curd to warm up a bit on the counter before adding to the cake?
@Michelle, can I add stabilized whipped cream to this curd?
Good question! I have not tried this myself, but the curd is fairly stable, so I can see adding stabilized whipped cream working successfully here. Definitely let me know if you try it – I’d be really interested to hear how that works for you!
It stays fairly spreadable when it’s cold. When you first make it, the curd is thinner until it’s fully chilled. I’ve spread it on cake directly from the fridge with no issues. Good luck!
My granddaughter has asked me to make a chocolate layer cake with mango filling for her 13th birthday. I, too, am a little worried about it being runny. Would there be a way to thicken it a bit if necessary?
Thank you.
It is a little thin when you first make it until it chills. Once it chills, it’s pretty thick and works well. If you want to thicken it further, add a little cornstarch to just enough cold water to absorb it, then stir that into the mango curd and heat it gently until it thickens further. But once you chill it the first time, it should be plenty thick for you!
I made this for a cake I am making for my daughter in law. I’m just worried it isn’t thick enough for a filling.
I’ve made it several times and used it as a cake filling. It needs to cool a bit and will thicken as it cools, so I wouldn’t stress too much as long as you followed the instructions. I hope you enjoy your cake!
[…] Mango curd filling […]
What is the purpose of putting the curd first into a measuring cup, and then pouring it directly into a storage container? This seems like I’m just dirtying an extra cup.
It does dirty an extra dish, but I do not do well pouring a pot of the curd into a jar without spilling it everywhere. When I put it into my large liquid measuring cup, I don’t spill getting it into that and then have much more control when I put it into jars to store it. If you’re confident you can get it from a bowl into whatever vessel you need, feel free to skip this step – it’s something I’ve found helps me but is by no means mandatory!