Best Mango Mousse Cake

Mango Mousse Cake is a decadent slice of mango heaven! A layer of buttery yellow cake, creamy mango mousse, and strawberry jelly make this such a delightful treat.

Serving mousse-based desserts is always a sure hit. Impress your guests and family with these delicious Peanut Butter Mousse Brownies, Clementine Mousse Cake with Peach Jelly, and Milk Chocolate Mousse Shots!

Sliced mango mousse cake.

Mango Cake Recipe

Mango Mousse Cake is exactly what you need if you’re craving this amazing tropical fruit. It’s light, airy, and absolutely loaded with sweet and fresh mango flavors.

The cake is delicious on its own, but something magical happens when you combine it with mango mousse with a thin layer of strawberry jelly on top. It’s almost impossible to stop with just one slice!

A lot of home cooks are intimidated by making a mousse. While it involves a few more steps than a traditional cake, it’s actually super easy. Once you’ve got a handle on the basic process, you can put your own twist on it.

Try chocolate, coffee, other fruits, vanilla— the possibilities are endless. But for now, we’re focusing on one of the best versions of them all: Mango Mousse Cake!

Mango mousse cake ingredients.

What is a mousse cake?

Here’s a fun fact: the word “mousse” means “foam” or “froth” in French. It’s the perfect name for this fantastic confection.

A mousse cake is generally a layer cake made with a flavored mousse and a cake base.

What do you need to make Mango Mousse Cake

  • For the yellow cake base, you’ll need sugar, salt, flour, milk, butter, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla extract,.
  • For the mango mousse, prepare sugar, mango juice, unflavored gelatin, and chunks of mango.
  • Finally, you’ll need a box of strawberry jelly.

To make this a beginner-friendly recipe, I chose convenient versions for some of the ingredients, like the box of strawberry jelly. But if you want to make it from scratch, you can absolutely do so!

How to make mango mousse cake steps.

How to make Mango Mousse Cake

  1. We’ll begin with the yellow cake layer. Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl, then whisk sugar and butter. Mix in the eggs. Add your vanilla, oil, cream, and mix on medium-high. Combine your dry ingredients to complete the batter. Bake.
  2. Next is your mousse. Sprinkle gelatin over your mango juice, dissolve along with the sugar, and set until it reaches pudding texture. Process mango chunks. Whip the cream and add the mango puree and gelatin mix until completely combined. Stir in more mango chunks.
  3. Assemble the cake. Place the base in a springform pan, then pour the mousse over it. Refrigerate until it sets.
  4. Make your strawberry jelly according to the box instructions. Pour over the mango mousse, and chill the cake to set. 
  5. Slice and serve.

Mango mousse cake with jelly.

Can I use fresh mangoes?

Yes, and you’ll get that pure mango flavor from the fruit itself. Just make sure they’re ripe and sweet. 

Can I skip the gelatin?

I wouldn’t recommend it. You need the gelatin to help the mousse set because the whipped cream and mango puree combination is really delicate.

Don’t worry about the taste since we’re using unflavored; we just need it to get the right consistency. 

How long will the MMC last?

You can freeze it for up to two months. When ready to serve, thaw it inside the fridge overnight.

Slice of mango mousse cake.

More delicious desserts: 

Homemade mango mousse cake with mango chunks.

Recipe Tips:

  • Don’t overcook your cake. Only bake until a toothpick inserted comes clean.
  • Feel free to use frozen mango for the puree. 
  • For nice and clean cake slices, clean your knife after every cut.

Sliced mango mousse cake.

Mango Mousse Cake

Catalina Castravet
Mango Mousse Cake is a decadent slice of mango heaven! A layer of buttery yellow cake, creamy mango mousse, and strawberry jelly make this such a delightful treat.
4.50 from 8 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chill 6 hours
Total Time 7 hours
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings
Calories 406 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Yellow Cake:

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • cups granulated sugar
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter softened + more for buttering the pans
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mango Mousse:

  • 3 envelopes unflavored gelatin 7 grams each
  • cups Mango Nectar Juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream cold
  • 2 cups mango chunks fresh or canned

Strawberry Jelly:

  • 1 Strawberry Jelly box

Instructions
 

Cake Layer:

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Butter two 8 inch cake pans and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whisk softened butter and sugar on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add dry ingredients and combine them with butter for 30-40 seconds.
  • Add milk, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs one at a time, mix on medium-high for one minute.
    Image of eggs and butter.
  • Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, a tooth stick inserted into the center of the cake must come clean.

Mango Mousse:

  • Add mango juice to a medium saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes. Turn the stove on, and on low heat stir in the sugar into the juice and gelatin mixture. Cook stirring for 3-5 minutes, just until all the sugar and gelatin have dissolved.
    Photo of mango gelatin mixture.
  • Transfer the mixture to a glass bowl and cool to room temperature.
  • Add 1 cup of mango chunks to a food processor and process until smooth.
    Photo of mango puree.
  • Whisk the heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff, when soft peaks have been formed, reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the mango gelatin mixture to it. Whisk on low until combined. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula, to make sure the mixture is fully combined.
  • Stir in the remaining 1 cup of mango chunks into the mixture.
    Image of mango mousse.
  • Place one yellow cake layer into the center of a 9 or 10-inch springform pan, there will be space around it. Pour the mousse over the cake letting it fill in around the side. Refrigerate at least for 2 hours before adding the strawberry jelly layer.
  • NOTE: if you have a higher springform pan, or a cake ring form, pour half of the mousse over the cake layer, chill, then top it with the second layer, and cover with the remaining mousse mixture.

Strawberry Jelly:

  • Follow instructions on the box on how to prepare the jelly. Let the jelly cool to almost room temperature, I usually give the bowl an ice bath to speed up the process. Pour it over the mousse.
  • Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving the cake. Remove cake from the fridge and run a knife around inside rim of pan to loosen cake; remove sides of pan, slice, and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcalCarbohydrates: 64gProtein: 7gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 330mgPotassium: 323mgFiber: 2gSugar: 46gVitamin A: 1194IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 161mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Video

YouTube video

Easy Mango Mousse Cake pin

4.50 from 8 votes

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25 Comments

  1. Oooh, that mango mousse filling sounds so good and what a great texture! I want a slice of this cake! 🙂

  2. This cake is gorgeous!! I love anything mango! I’m not sure what I would love more: 6 large mangoes for breakfast or a slice of this cake!

  3. This cake is beautiful, elegant and delicious! Mango is such a wonderful fruit, I’m planning to make a dessert with mango mousse soon 🙂5 stars

  4. What an absolutely stunning cake! It looks like something you’d get in a fine dining establishment.

  5. This seems an easy but delish recipe to make. I know what you mean about mangoes. You should go to the Philippines in the summer season (March-May). It has the BEST tasting mangoes in the whole world-I promise!5 stars

  6. I tried this today as it looked gorgeous. sadly i could not get the mango mousse to look anywhere as creamy as your’s does in this picture. It just looked rather curdled. The taste was ok but the appearance was quite unappetizing. Also the packets of knox that my store carries contains less than 7g and so I had to figure out the conversion. I’ve made mousse before without issue, so i am befuddled as to what went wrong. Oh, well- so much for my Valentine’s dessert. Off to the bakery i go.1 star

    1. Hi Patricia, well, unfortunately that is something that can happen with the mousse if you dont watch it closely. That is because of the gelatin, when you mix the juice with the gelatin and put it in the fridge you have to watch it very closely, thats why I stressed that out in the recipe and in the post, you have to stir it in the fridge to avoid gelatin clumps, you have to be very careful and when the gelatin juice mixture is like pudding, very soft, with no clumps, just begins to settle you mix it in the whipped cream using a mixer on low speed to distribute it evenly. This way you avoid the gelatin clumps. The cake tastes very good, I took it to work and everyone loved it, I would say that when you have time try it one more time, I al sure you will love it. Thank you!

  7. I love the flavor of mango and never eat enough of it! I know that hubby would love this too! Plus… this cake is just gorgeous!5 stars

  8. OK now this sounds absolutely delicious – I could definitely see myself enjoying a slice of this – I do love anything mango!

  9. I don’t think I’ve ever tried any kind of mousse cake before. This sure does look amazing though. Mango is such an amazing flavor too. I bet this is delicious.

  10. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had mango cake. I haven’t tried baking one before too. Your mango mousse cake looks so enticing!

  11. This dessert really looks delightful. My eldest daughter loves mango so this seems like a great treat to make for her tonight.

  12. I so love mangoes and keeps on doing a lot of mango stuff in the kitchen recently and I would love to include this!