Coconut sticky rice with mango as a birthday cake...need help

[Isolda]

We're celebrating my MIL's birthday tomorrow--lamb burgers with grilled eggplant, romaine, halloumi, whatever I can grill--and she doesn't eat cakes that contain milk. So in lieu of a traditional b-day cake, I thought I'd make one out of sticky rice with mango, which I know she adores. (I'm also doing another "sticky" rice dessert, rice krispie treats in a heart shaped pan.)

I'm steaming my rice now and thought that after mixing with the coconut milk, sugar and salt, I'd pat it into a greased springform pan and chill that, so it will hold its shape. Rather than topping it with sliced mango, I thought I'd mix some mango puree with a bit of sugar and maybe some lemon juice, gelatine and water to make a sort of jelly topping, which will look pretty when I pull off the sides of the pan.

Do you think this will work? What ratios of mango, water and gelatine powder do I need to make this set up well? And most importantly, do you think this will taste good? Or should I just run to the market and try to hunt down some decent mangoes? (The last ones were stringy and not very sweet.)

I make sticky rice with mango frequently, but I've never done it as a cake.

[S_K]

Once you chill it, the sticky rice will get hard and it won't be as tasty, it needs to be warm to have that soft texture. To bring it back to that try re-steaming the rice within the springform pan to bring it to sticky softness again. Make sure the middle gets just warm enough. If it gets cooked for too long it will become so soft it will not hold its shape once the spring is released. The texture is not the quite the same once it has cooled and reheated but it's doable. However, I'm sure you know this since you've done this dish frequently (although not in cake form). :)

I have not seen mango puree used, but if your mango puree tastes good, I think you should just go for it.

Related to sticky rice desserts, we (my mom and I) used to wrap up sticky rice cooked with coconut milk and wrap that around a sliced piece of banana, sprinkle black beans on top and wrap that up in foil or banana leaves and steam it...long story short, if you don't mind substitutes, you might also try a gently cooked banana (maybe cook it with a little coconut milk and sugar for a topping if the banana is not sweet enough) instead of a mango.

[Isolda]

That banana-black bean dessert sounds delicious! I'll bet I could grill it in foil packets, too. Thank you.

[S_K]

:D My pleasure.

[babette feasts]

Room temp sticky rice as opposed to actually warm/hot should be OK, right? Then OP would have to make the rice same day, but could reverse the order - make the mango jelly 1st and chill it then press on cooled but not cold rice. Not sure you'd get great adhesion between the layers, though.

I've had some good mangoes lately, they are out there.

Is non-dairy the only restriction? Angel food cake or pavlova with fresh mango and coconut cream could be nice too.

[S_K]

Room temp will be okay, yep.