Eating Summer: mango mousse

Oooooh mango-time! The one time I don’t complain about Houston’s increasing temps and humidity is when I find beautiful mangoes at my local grocery store. Even better when they’re in the season and, thus, affordable. Can you say win-win?!!

I can eat mangoes like nobody’s business, but I can’t write a valuable post with that as the subject. So I’ve kept my thinking cap on, trying to find ways to incorporate them into a recipe. That’s how this little treat came to be.

Have you been watching the new Cooking channel? I hope you have. I’m loving it and found a few new chefs that have quickly moved into my DVR’s record list. This recipe comes as the result of adapting a recipe from the show French Food at Home. Laura Calder is a French chef bringing that fancy cuisine into normal people’s homes. On one of her episodes, she made a pumpkin mousse, the perfect platform for a mango coup.

She served it with a chocolate sauce, but not being a chocolate fiend and knowing I would need some texture, I opted for some crumbled ginger snaps. It’s easier too.

Mango Mousse with Gingersnap Crumble

3 cps ripe mango, peeled & chopped
2-inches fresh ginger, peeled (optional)
1 pkt unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon rum or bourbon (water works too)
2 cps heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cp sugar
Gingersnap cookies

First, you will need to turn that mango into puree. Place the mango in a medium saucepan, add the ginger, 2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 cp water. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, reduce heat to medium and allow it cook down until the mango softens–about 10-15 minutes.

Stir the rum/bourbon and gelatine together in a cup, and let soften 5 minutes. Add a third of the cream and the vanilla to the saucepan with the mango syrup. Stir in the dissolved gelatin and the rest of the sugar to dissolve. Remove the ginger pieces and the mango mixture  to cool just a bit before running it through the blender or food processor to puree. You’ll need to strain the puree, mango is very fibrous; set aside to cool and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled and starting to get thick.

Whip the remaining cream and fold it into the chilled mango mixture. Chill at least 4 hours before serving. Spoon into individual serving dishes or goblets topping with crushed gingersnap cookies.

This was delicious and the crunch from the ginger cookies added a much needed textural dimension. Tell me, how do YOU eat your mangoes?

Cookingly yours,
Anamaris