Mango: Part Four ~ Mango Mousse Cake ~

This is actually from back in August when I made them for my dad’s birthday dinner, but I had to share since I'm so proud of them! On his birthday, my mom and grandparents were also in town to help my sister move up north, so we all got together at my place to celebrate with some of Obachan’s (grandma's) home cooking and desserts by their favorite pastry chef--me.  At least I tell myself that.

Since it was still summer, I though I’d go with something refreshing. And since I wanted to impress them, I thought I’d be overly ambitious and attempt a recipe by Toshi Yoroizuka, the same chef that created my failed fig mousse cake, although to no fault of his own. I reiterate that his recipe was delicious. I’m the one that made a mistake somewhere so the mousse didn’t set, except I can’t remember where I went wrong.  I still ended up with a great fig frozen mousse ice cream thing though. Yeah...

Anyway, so this is what it's supposed to look like: Yoroizuka's Mango Banana Mousse Cake.

And here's the recipe in Japanese.

If you can read or decipher French, here's the handwritten recipe.

The top layer is a mango mousse.  The middle one is a banana mousse with a hint of pineapple, filled with pineapple chunks.  The bottom is a coconut dacquoise, the first dacquoise I’ve ever made. Everything came out well.  You could really taste all the individual fruit flavors, and the texture of the coconut in the dacquoise just brought everything together.  Nothing was too sweet, and it was perfectly delicate in that Japanese-French way.  

I don't have hundreds of molds so mine ended up being circles instead of that fancy square layer thing Yoroizuka does.  One day.

I made the full recipe this time, which means I ended up with a lot of leftover mousse and cake. I made a mental note to only make a half recipe the next time. But as I found out with the fig mousse, I really only need to do a third or a fourth of his recipes. Now I just need to figure out which one of his 175+ recipes he has up online that I want to attempt...



Mango: Part Three ~ Mango Macarons ~

I had left over mango puree from the Mango Purin so I decided to practice making macarons again.  I want to perfect my mixing and piping techniques which means I have to make them as often as I can.

I used my usual macaron recipe and made a standard 1:2:3 ration Swiss buttercream (1 part egg, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts butter) then added in the leftover mango puree, tasting until it felt mango-y enough.

The macarons came out well!  I still have to work on piping them so they’re smooth on top and even in size, but the texture was the best I’ve ever achieved.  I think I now know the exact amount of mixing that’s required, or at least I think I do.  I need to make another batch as soon as my oven’s fixed to test it out.

But cheers for a successful batch!

Mango: Part Two ~ Mango "Purin" ~

In Japanese, we call them “purin” ( プリン), which basically is the japanese-a-fied pronunciation of the word pudding. There are various types of purin, and anything that is a custard texture inevitably is named this whether it’s actually a pots de creme, a flan, a panna cotta, or a creme brulee minus the burnt sugar crust. Side Note: panna cotta’s in Japan are often actually called panna cotta, but you’ll often see a “milk purin” that is really just a panna cotta. So even that isn’t constant. 

The purin I made isn’t egg based and isn’t baked. It uses gelatin so it’s really a mango panna cotta, but I used a Japanese recipe and we Japanese love mango purin, so I’m calling it that. Accept it.  (Please)

Mango Purin is pretty much the same thing as what dim sum restaurants call mango tofu. Don’t worry, we don’t claim it as one of our own. We love it but we know it comes from Hong Kong cuisine.

It’s fitting that the most famous version in Japan is from The Peninsula Hotel in Ginza since the Peninsula hotel group is a Hong Kong company.  Hopefully I’ll get to eat one myself when I go to Tokyo in December.  I’ve been reading about it for years.

My version isn’t quite as fancy as theirs but it has all the same elements: the custard, the sauce, and the fresh mango chunks. The mango flavor wasn’t quite as pronounced in the custard as I would have liked so next time I need to increase the amount of mango puree used. Also, I would use more whipping cream next time. This version was heavy on milk, and since I only had skim milk I used that. Big mistake. I needed to go all out and use whole milk. It's dessert after all. This was good, just not as good as it could’ve been.

That’s okay. I’ll get my fix in December. Plus, there’s always mango season again next year.

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!

Mango ~ an introduction ~

                        

    

Meet my friend Mangifera indica, otherwise known as Mango. M’s another fruit with a long family history with some religious significance. They’ve been around for at least 4000 years, and they’re indigenous to India, making it fitting that Siddhartha meditated under mango trees in his quest to become Buddha. India’s hot, humid, tropical weather is ideal for this orange member of the cashew and pistachio family. It’s also why Hawaii is the perfect place for them too.

Back in Hawaii, people with mango trees in their yard would start picking them around May to make mango chutney. I remember my junior year of high school going to various houses to pick buckets of green mangos to turn into Punahou Carnival’s famous mango chutney.  Mango trees are huge and bear a lot of fruit, so most people were glad that the junior class would come by every year to decrease their yield. Because once those guys start ripening, they will fall off the tree and make a rotting juicy mess all around the yard if you’re not careful!

My family always ate mangoes fresh, but my Aunty L would occasionally make these mango cheesecake bars for our family that I LOVED. Little did I know back then that while I was eating a sugary dessert, they actually also had a lot of Vitamin C. Mangoes deliver about 80% of your daily Vitamin C needs per serving. They also have some Vitamin A, but only 25% per serving. One cup surprisingly only has about 110 calories. I don’t know about you but I always thought the fruit was more caloric than that since it’s just so sweet!

Tommy Atkins is the most popular cultivar in the US. Best from March-July then again from October-January. They originated in Florida back in the 1920s. They’re red with some green and yellow/orange sections, depending on their mood.

The Kent’s also another popular one here in the states. Sometimes it likes to put a little rouge on it’s dark green cheeks. These guys are sweeter than the Tommy Atkins and are best January through March, and again from June to August.

Keitt is the one you find most often in Asia. Best from August to September, and the sweet fruity flesh covered by a green skin is perfectly tropical.

Haden is big in Mexico, and naturally so with a bright red exterior with yellow and green accents.

Ataulfo / Champagne mangoes are also from Mexico.  These little yellow guys are very sweet and creamy. Delicate little buggers they are.

Francis comes to us from Haiti.  It has a bright yellow skin with streaks of green, and it’s sweet, with a little kick.

By now, I hope you can tell that color is not an indicator of ripeness when it comes to mangoes because they come in all different shades. The best way to tell if they’re sweet and juicy is to gently squeeze them. Usually they’ll smell mango-y too. I bought some sweet smelling, slightly soft to the touch mangoes myself so will return soon with my creations.