Mangomisu

A few days ago, I made my own cheese again. This time I made mascarpone - a soft Italian cheese made with cream. I had a few problems with it, either it not curdling enough or not making firming up. In the end I made a considerable batch, but it was still no enough. I used spreadable light cream cheese to make up for the rest. I used the cheese to make Mangomisu. People may know what Tiramisu is - an Italian coffee-flavoured dessert, but this is mango-flavoured instead.

The recipe says to put a layer of sliced mangoes on top, as decoration, but I ran out, so I left it out. It looks really good even without it. It tasted deliciously creamy and the savoiardi biscuits turn into what tastes like a sponge cake.
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The structure of the cake wasn't very stable though. It nearly separated into two when I was takeing it out of the pan. I also could not slice it properly. But this no longer matters once you take a bite of this Mangomisu. The recipe also gives a raspberry sauce which I did not make.
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Mango Mousse

After making Apple Tarte Tatins, I had a rather large batch of wipped cream used to decorate, left over. I thought about making parfaits, mousses and even just eating it right there and then. I trashed the last idea pretty quickly. I looked in the fridge for inspiration, but it struck when I saw a few mangos sitting on the bench. My mind whirled with ideas as I searched for mango mousse recipes.

I found the easiest recipe I could because I was tired and didn't want to make anything overly complicated. It says to use gelatin, but I've never used that in a mousse recipe before. First time for everything! I had to halve the recipe because I remember I whipped 300ml of cream. In Australia, we get 300ml and 600ml bottles of thickened cream... What's up with that? They think that giving us a cup of cream isn't enough, so they give us and extra 50ml? It's rather retarded, the Australian food industry, but not nearly as retarded as the Americans. Watch Food, inc., you'll know what I'm on about.

Anyways, I forgot that I had added 2 tablespoons of sugar into the cream before, so it was a bit too sweet, but only a bit. The mousse mixture turned out quite well, but I had to refrigerate it because it wasn't firm enough for me to pipe. I originally intended on wide straight bowls, but realised there would be too much mousse, and by nozzle wasn't big enough. I settle on small shot glasses, which make them look very sophisticated. I adorned the top with mango cubes and mango slices. They are all very cute.

Recipe

Obtained here

Serves 6

500 g mango slices
1 tablespoon gelatin
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ cup sugar
2½ cups cream


1. Peel mangoes, cut flesh away from stone and reserve a few slices for decoration. Mash remaining mangoes to a puree.

2. Sprinkle gelatin over water, dissolve over low heat.

3. Add to mango puree with lemon juice and sugar.

4. Whip cream to stiff peaks, fold into mango mixture.

5. Spoon into individual serving dishes or large serving dish, refrigerate until set.

6. Decorate with reserved mango slices and, if desired, toasted almond flakes.

Coconut and Mango Ice Cream

Success! Sweet, Sweet Success!

A few days ago, I dared myself to try another coconut ice cream recipe. I told myself it'll probably turn out like the last one, and why waste another can of coconut milk? I eventually won myself over by finding a suitable recipe.

It's surprising how there is no (well at least I haven't found any) recipes which require just simple ingredients, like milk, cream, sugar and coconut milk. Maybe it's something to do with the coconut taste is too mellow, or the taste too strong. I don't know, and I won't be experimenting.

I changed the method of the original recipe a little bit, to suit me and what I found easiest. The recipe is for coconut and mango ice cream, custard style. Custard style is where you beat egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale, and then add a hot milk or cream mixture into it, making sure to whisk vigorously, lest it becomes scrambled eggs. Then you pour that mixture back into the pan which you heated the milk in and heat that again. In previous attempts I have always ended up with more than enough cooked egg bits in this step. But this time, it was different. I read somewhere that the temperature has to reach 70-75°C (160-170°F) and then it's ready. The custard turned out perfect, and no stray cooked egg bits to be found.

I refridgerated the mixture for a few hours, but when I took it about, a semi-solid layer had formed on top.  I didn't know what it was, so I strained it out. Stupidly I chucked the residue out. Later on, I found that it was cream (or otherwise known as fat), and the ice cream would be a lot more creamy if I had strained that into the mixture. Oh well.

Five minutes before it was finished, I added some squished up mango. I like having bits of mango here and there, so I didn't process it into a puree. I was expecting distinctive swirls of mango-orange, but it just blended into the pure whiteness of the coconut. I guess you can't expect home-made ice cream to be the same as retail ice cream.

After freezing in my ice cream machine, I opted to just keep it in the freezer bowl an didn't transfer it into a plastic container. I'm not sure, but I've go a feeling that it's a bit harder than normal ice cream because of that. Or, it may have been the fact that, technically, it's low fat (ha!). The result was so delicious! The coconut was very subtle, but the nuttiness, almost almond taste, lingers behind on your palate. Then you get little nuggets of frozen mango. Mmmmm! This is one of the best ice cream I have made - along with Cookies n Cream, Green Tea and Red Bean.

Recipe

Obtained from here.

Makes 1.5 litres.

300 mL cream
300 mL milk
400 mL coconut cream or milk
4 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar
1 cup mango pieces/puree


1. Gently heat the cream, milk and coconut milk/cream in a heavy pan.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks and the sugar in a bowl, until thick and pale.

3. When the milk mixture just boils, take off the heat.

4. While whisking constantly, pour the hot milk mixture about a tablespoon at a time into the egg yolks. Continue whisking until all the milk has been poured in.

5. Pour the egg mixture back into the heavy pan and heat on medium until the mixture reaches ~70°C. To test readiness without a thermometer: Coat the back of a spoon with the custard. Run your finger along the length of the spoon, and if the trail remains on the spoon, it is ready.

6. Refridgerate the mixture until completely cold.

7. Freeze per your ice cream machine's instructions. Five minutes before ready, tip in the mango pieces.