In terms of relatively quick-to-make no-bake desserts, this five-ingredient show-stopper takes the cake. It's refreshingly-light and smooth-as-silk with a trio of flavors everyone loves about the Caribbean islands accounted for in every creamy bite -- mango, rum and coconut. It's thickened by super-stiff whipped cream -- no eggs or gelatine. No one needs to know these didn't take all day to make. Serve 'em right after they're put together to quell a craving, or make 'em a day ahead to impress a few friends, just make 'em -- they are truly a don't worry, be happy dessert.
Fall back fifty years. Peaches and cream. Freshly-picked sliced peaches dolloped with soft-peaks of freshly-whipped sweetened cream. When I was growing up it was one of my favorite straight-up, unembellished, Summer,desserts. My grandmother's peach tree produced the best peaches, and, every year, after my dad picked them, mom would slice 'em, dollop 'em and serve 'em on our front porch at dusk -- where, a few nights in a row, we'd gobble 'em up listening to the chirp of the crickets. Peachy-keen memories indeed.
It's not hard to see how easy it was to transition from peaches to mangos and come up with this tropical-flaired dessert.
4 ripe mangos, split, pitted, fruit fruit removed from flesh and 1/2" diced, then puréed (as directed below), chilled
4 cups heavy cream, chilled
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter-rum extract
1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut, lightly toasted (fine-chopped and lightly-toasted cashews are a nice substitution)
~Step 1. Spread coconut across bottom of small shallow baking pan and place on center rack of 350° oven until lightly-toasted, about 7-8 minutes stopping to stir with a spoon every 2-3 minutes (to insure even toasting). Set aside to cool.
~Step 2. With the aid of an Oxo mango splitter-pitter, split and pit the mango. Use a tablespoon to scoop the fruit from the flesh of each half. Don't have a mango splitter? Get one ($12.00).
~Step 3. Dice the fruit into 1/2" pieces, placing two-thirds of it in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and setting the other one-third aside. If you have a kitchen scale, now is a great time to use it. Place 16 ounces in the food processor and set aside 8 ounces -- it you have 1-2-ounces of mango leftover, add it to the processor. With motor running, process the mango to a smooth purée, about 45 seconds. There will be 1 3/4-2 cups purée.
~Step 4. Place the sugar and butter-rum extract in a large bowl. Give it a stir and allow it to sit for 3-5 minutes, to flavor and start to dissolve the sugar. Add the cream. Starting on lowest speed of hand-held electric mixer and working up to highest speed, whip the cream until very, very stiff, using a large rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl throughout the process, about 6 minutes. Remove and set aside (in the refrigerator) 2 cups of the whipped cream.
~Step 5. Gently fold the mango purée into the whipped cream, in 4-5 increments. Ladle the mango cream evenly into 6, 2-cup dessert bowls or glasses (these are stemless wine glasses). If you have the time at this point, refrigerate for 30-60 minutes -- if you don't it'll be just fine.
~Step 6. At serving time, distribute a few diced mango cubes over their tops, followed by a few dollops (1/2 cup each) of the reserved whipped cream and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.
Impress a few family or friends w/a taste of the tropics:
Oh my butter-rum mango cream. Sigh.
Toasted-Coconut-Kissed Butter-Rum Mango Cream: Recipe yields 6, 1-cup-ish size servings.
Special Equipment List: small shallow baking pan; mango pitter-splitter; cutting board; chef's knife; food processor; kitchen scale; hand-held electric mixer; large rubber spatula
Cook's Note: Panna cotta is a softly-set dessert containing three ingredients: cream, sugar and galatine. A fourth, flavoring, isn't necessary to achieve perfection, but, a splash of vanilla (or any other flavoring) takes it over-the-top. Some technique is involved (while the name implies 'cooked cream', the ingredients are only warmed enough to dissolve the gelatine and sugar), but it is quickly learned and requires knowing a bit about gelatine. ~ Panna from Heaven: A Divine Mango Panna Cotta ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2018
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