Mayapple Cake and Ice Cream

I hate scrolling through blogs to find the recipes. So here ya go, no lengthy stories.

Mayapple Cake Batter

• 6 TBSP butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup mayapple pulp
• 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup greek yogurt

1. Mix butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla and mix on low setting until creamy. Add mayapple and mix on low until completely.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Stir ½ of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then stir in the yogurt. Then stir in the other ½ of the dry ingredients.

Use the batter in one of the recipes below, or bake your cake and make up your own mayapple cake dish. Makes one 8” or 9” round or square cake, or one dozen cupcakes.

Mayapple Ice Cream

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup mayapple pulp
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Leave in refrigerator for 2 hours, or more,  to make sure all sugar is dissolved.
3. Whisk well. Add to ice cream maker.

Thanks to Elaine Hunt for sharing this recipe. Some fun variations are to substitute 1/2 cup of maple syrup or honey for the sugar, or to add 1/8 tsp ground wild ginger root.

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A cup and a half of mayapple pulp to get cake and ice cream may seem like a lot when you have trouble finding just one ripe fruit. But don't despair. Mayapples can be ripened at home on the counter. Sort of like tomatoes, but not exactly. Check out the video here.So, what did we do with our super delicious cake and ice cream to make the plate pictured above? Well, we decided that the tropical sweet type flavor of mayapple would pair really well with *actual* tropical fruits. So we combined our mayapple cake with coconut, and then garnished our deserts with more fruit.

Mayapple-Coconut Upside Down Cake

Topping

• 2 TBSP melted butter
• 1/3 cup brown or maple sugar
• 1/3 cup toasted coconut flakes

1. Prepare mayapple cake batter as described above.
2. Combine topping ingredients in the bottom of your cake pan.
3. Add cake batter.
4. Bake at 350 until golden brown and springy.
5. Cool 10 minutes, then turn over onto a plate or serving tray.

Shown garnished with bananas and berries.

Mayapple Cake with Coconut Cream Icing

Icing

• ¼ cup softened butter
• ½ cup confectioners sugar
• ½ cup coconut cream
• Splash of vanilla extract

1. Prepare cake batter.
2. Pour into greased, floured pan.
3. Bake at 350 until golden brown and springy.
4. Cool completely.
5. Whip the butter, sugar, coconut cream, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Spread onto cake.

We served ours with mayapple ice cream, garnished with toasted coconut and raspberries.

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