Yellow Chiffon Cake:

Preheat the oven to 340 F (170 C). Prepare 2 half sheet pans (both 13 x 18 inches) by lining bottom with parchment paper. Do not grease parchment paper or the sides of the pans.

In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/4 cups cake flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and 1 tsp salt, and combine well. Add in 8 egg yolks, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 3/4 cup water, 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest, 1 tsp finely grated orange zest, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat with an electric mixer or by hand just until smooth and well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat room temperature 8 egg whites and 1 tsp cream of tartar on high speed until frothy. Gradually add in 3/4 cups granulated sugar and beat until glossy stiff peaks are formed. Gradually and very gently fold in this meringue into cake mixture until very well combined. Divide batter equally into two prepared half sheet pans.

Bake in the preheated oven at 340 F (170 C) for about 23 - 25 minutes or it is light golden brown, cake springs back when touched lightly at the center. Cool the sheet cakes in the pans, sitting on metal racks to cool faster.

When they are cooled completely (about 3 hours), gently run a knife around the sides, and the cakes should slip off the pans very easily when inverted. Invert them onto rectangles of parchment paper on a flat surface so that they are upside down. And immediately peel off the parchment paper that was lining the bottom of the pan. Each sheet will make 1 and a half cake rounds.

Then use a 9-inch cake ring to make 1 full cake round and another half cake round on each cake sheet. There should be some leftover cake to fill in gaps when necessary. The 2 full rounds will be the top 2 cake layers (out of 3). The 2 half rounds will be put together to make the bottom layer (plus some scraps to fill in empty spaces).

Mango Filling / Topping:

Take 5 ripe mangoes and slice the sides around the seed so you have 10 mango halves and 5 seeds.

Take 6 of the 10 mango halves and slice mangoes into small squares (using crisscross method). Place them in a saucepan, add 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and 2/3 cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, cook it for an additional one or two minutes. Transfer it into a bowl and let it cool completely. Reserve this mango compote for the topping.

Take the remaining 4 mango halves and similarly slice into small squares. But this time place them into a blender. Take the 5 mango seeds and do your best to cut the flesh off the seeds and add this to the blender as well. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and blend together. If necessary, add water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed (sometimes blender won't blend unless water is added if mangoes are too dry), and puree it. But try to add as little water as possible. Otherwise this filling will become too runny. If it blends without adding water, then don't add water at all. This is ideal. Reserve this for cake filling.

Frosting:

Combine 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth.

While the mixture is still whipping, slowly pour in 2 cups of very cold heavy cream. Continue whipping until the cream is thick and billowy. When you get the right consistency, stop whipping. It doesn't have to form stiff peaks, since we're not piping the frosting or putting on the side of the cake.

Make sure to keep everything cold. And be careful not to over whip this. If you whip it past a certain point, it will curdle and form a grainy or clumpy consistency. If this does happen to you, one way to undo this is quickly add in additional cold heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, and manually whisk it in to combine. If you do this quickly and it's not too grainy yet, the texture should return to thick and smooth cream.

When you've stopped whipping, add 1 tsp of finely grated lemon zest and 1 tsp of finely grated orange zest, and manually fold it in with a spoon.

Assembling the Cake:

Place the 9-inch metal cake ring at the center of a cake stand or cake board. Then using the cake ring as an outer shell/mold, create a round with the 4-inch high acetate sheet so that it is the same circumference as the cake ring, on the inside of the cake ring.

Take the 2-half cake rounds, and place them together in the ring to create the bottom layer of cake. If there are uneven spaces or gaps in the middle or sides, fill them in with the leftover cake scraps. so that the bottom layer is as perfect a circle as possible.

Spread 1/3 of the frosting on top. Making sure you get it all the way to the ends in a kind of figure eight out or circular motion, to make it as flat and even as possible. Then spread 1/2 of the mango puree on top in the same fashion - really making sure it spread all the way to the acetate sheet. Also, be mindful of the cake ring sliding around the surface. Try adjusting it back to the center before you get too far along with the layers. It is much more difficult to slide it back to the center when cake is done.

Then take one of the whole 9-inch cake rounds from before, and place it on top as the 2nd layer of cake. Make sure that the layers are as even as possible, so we avoid a lop-sided looking cake. Gently tap it down with the back of your hand to make sure the layers are snug - there are no awkward gaps. This will make the layers as pretty as possible in the end.

Again, spread 1/3 of the frosting on top, and then the last 1/2 of the mango puree on top, as with the previous layer.

Then take the last whole 9-inch cake round and place it on top, as the third and final layer of cake. Gently tap it down like before.

And then add the final 1/3 of frosting on top. And flatten it out as much as possible. Then spread the mango compote topping on top over the frosting, spreading the mango chunks evenly on the surface, flattening out as much as possible. Just like with the inner layers, make sure you spread them all the way to the sides and flush with the acetate sheet.

Finish off the Red Ribbon design by adding 1 maraschino cherry in the middle.

Place this in the freezer for 3 hours, and or in the fridge overnight to set. If using the freezer, make sure to transfer it to the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving to soften up a bit.

When it's set, slip the metal ring off, peel off the acetate sheet. And it's ready to serve! A beautiful mango naked layer cake. Make sure you only peel off the acetate sheet when you're ready to serve the cake! Enjoy!