Mango: Part One ～ Mango Creem Cheese Pie ～

My mom is a great cook.  My grandma’s an even better one.  But neither is much of a baker so growing up, all the homemade cookies and treats we had were made by one of my “aunties”--Aunty L, Aunty C, and Aunty A.  These three ladies are some of my mom’s oldest friends, and they are fabulous bakers. 

According to my memory bank, Aunty A and Aunty C made the best cookies, especially crispy, buttery ones like Aunty A’s cornflake cookies.  Aunty L made the BEST banana bread.  But the most memorable dessert is this mango cheesecake that Aunty L would make for us from time to time.  It had a buttery crust, a cream cheesy middle, and the top layer was a clear jello filled with fresh chunks of local Hawaii mangoes.  It was one of my favorite desserts growing up.  It’s nothing refined or fancy, but it’s fresh, not too sweet, and so local.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom finally mailed me the recipes from Aunty L.  Score!  I promptly bought some mangoes even though they aren’t exactly in season, nor were they on sale, but I couldn’t help it.

The recipe was even simpler than I thought.  It’s a bit time consuming since there are three parts to it, but each layer isn’t too complicated.  And I learned I have to be careful when pouring the mango jello mixture on top.  I’m using a ladle the next time I make this.  For this first attempt, I accidentally poured from the mixing bowl and it made the cream cheese layer splatter a bit, creating little white flecks through the jello.  Not the prettiest look to have...

It tasted just like I remembered though.  Aunty L’s were always cut a little nicer, and they of course didn’t have little white flecks of cream cheese in the jello part, but it still made me think of all the happy times growing up with my family back in Hawaii.  

I’m definitely making this again when it’s mango season!

Figs: Part One ~ Fig, Mascarpone, and Goat Cheese Tartlets ~

The first fig dish I attempted was something I sort of made up. A little over a year ago when I first got into baking, I had tried making Claire Clark’s Gooseberry mascarpone tart from her book Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts. It tasted great, but I had to use grapes since gooseberries were so expensive, and I poured too much of the cheese mixture into the tart before baking so it overflowed. Needless to say, it wasn’t a pretty dessert but it did taste good, and I certainly learned from it.


I thought making that tart but with fresh figs would be delicious. There were a lot of frangipane tart recipes using figs, but I’m not the biggest fan of that almond mixture, so I decided to experiment. As I was shopping for mascarpone cheese, I spotted some goat milk cream cheese and had to go for it. I’m not the biggest proponent of goat cheese but thought the tartness, offset a bit by the mascarpone cheese, would make for a creamy companion to the sweetness of the figs.


Let me tell you, I ended up right on that one! I also substituted lemons for the oranges in the original recipe, to decrease the sweetness of the dish. I blind baked the tart shells, was careful not to overfill it with the cheese mixture, and baked it until the filling was a bit set. Then I took them out and lined up the figs. One thing I learned from the grape/gooseberry experience was that the cheese mixture inflates and covers the fruit. I wanted the figs to stay visible so I thought this might work but it’s not like I had read it in a recipe so couldn’t be sure. It turned out how I wanted, although I can’t say for certain that had I not done that that I wouldn’t have achieved the same outcome. No matter, I can do another trial next time.


I should have made the tart shells a little thicker, and I still ended up overfilling some of them, but all in all they turned out pretty well. And it tasted just like I thought it would. Pat on the back for me. Win.