Sunday, June 26, 2011

Week 4: It's Just Another Mango Monday

This weeks flavor is Mango! I asked around the office for someone to pick a flavor and Christina picked it. She said it is one of her favorite flavors so I hope she enjoys it.

The recipe called for store bought mango puree, which she said was available at Indian stores. Since I don't have any Indian specialty shops near me, I concocted my own. I pureed fresh mangoes, added a bit of mango passion fruit jelly, some cinnamon, fresh lemon juice and a little vanilla extract. I think  mangoes themselves have a hint of cinnamon and vanilla essence, so I just pumped up the flavor a bit. I reached a turning point in my base mixture. I think I finally have it at the right temperature to make it the right thickness. Until I had a proper thermometer I would gauge it by seeing if it would coat the back of a spoon before it got to too heavy a simmer. I wasn't allowing it to get thick enough and then wasn't giving it the time to cool down either. I am very impatient when it comes to cooking, which is why I don't enjoy baking. But I think timing is the key to perfection with this. I rush too much and the texture isn't quite right. So this time I took my time, and gave myself a day ahead to do it. By the end of this year long venture, I should be a pro!

I tried it last night and the results were improved. The texture is creamier and their is a definite mango flavor. The only issue I found is that it seems to melt quickly. That should actually work in our favor at work because the freezer is set too high and tends to over freeze it. I think I would have liked there to be chunks of mango in this. While I appreciate the smoothness, I think less mango puree in the base with pieces of mango throughout would be a nice variation. I could also see topping it with toasted nuts (which have been glazed with sugar and sprinkled with cinnamon, maybe?) or coconut to bring out the earthy flavor of the mangoes and give a nice crunchy contrast.


Now, a bit about the recipe selection process. Although I was happy with letting people pick a flavor from the book each week, Caroline made up a new rule that works really well to boost traffic to my blog. Whoever posts a comment to the blog gets to pick the flavor for the following week. So since Caroline posted about Sundae School last week, she will get to choose the next weeks flavor. By what she's told me she likes, it will no doubt be something chocolate!

Just a little useless bit of knowledge told to me by my friend Jon (an even bigger Prince fan than I am), the song Manic Monday released by The Bangles was originally written by Prince.

8 comments:

  1. First off ... did anyone else notice the fact that Miss Kendra wrote this post at 4:42 AM? You are one silly goose!
    Now to the Mango Ice cream.

    I was lucky enough to try it on Sunday night, shortly after it was made, and I LOVED IT! I find some fruit ice creams can lack a strong flavor, but this recipe was anything but bland. The mango flavor was definitely full, but not overpowering. And I was surprised by the fact that I didn't get bored of the flavor either! Always a plus! The texture was wonderful. Very thick and creamy, I would say almost custardy (especially when the ice cream melted).
    I was surprised to see that Kendra added cinnamon and vanilla to the mango puree. It must have been just the perfect amount, because it did not interfere with the mango flavor one bit.
    Overall, I would give this recipe two thumbs up! What a great idea to use toasted coconut as a topping. I could imagine that would be a wonderful addition. And kudos to Kendra for making her own mango puree!
    Yummy!

    -Brie

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  2. Actually Brie I wrote the post the day before and some the Sunday of, but my time zone keeps changing on here. I'm not that crazy to be posting that early, not yet anyway!

    Glad that you loved it! You are welcome over any Sunday for a taste test. Graham Central Station is yours though!

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  3. Pleasantly surprised... this one came out a lot smoother than I'd expected. The flavor is light and subtle.... And as we've just discussed over sampling it, I think you're right: Adding a diced mango to the mix would be just the thing for it! I think I might just try it myself. =]

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  4. I too was pleasantly suprised at the subtleness of the flavor. However, my taste was based on a scoop out of the freezer which means it was more like ice than ice cream. I should have let it melted a bit to get the true texture. But, chunks of mango sound great...or how about chocolate drizzle?

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  5. As the requestor of this ice cream I thought it did have hints of Mango, but it also tasted like vanilla and banana. It has a nice smooth taste and was very filling. Thanks for Mango Monday Kendra!

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  6. peanut butter palJuly 1, 2011 at 6:01 AM

    Mango Monday was heavenly! This ice cream had a wonderful texture, especially when slightly melted. I love the idea of adding some crunchy bits (nuts???) to the mixture but also love it just the way it is. Kudos to Kendra!

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  7. This was awesome ice cream. I'm not normally a huge mango person (unless eating a mango) but the added cinnamon pulled it together for me!
    And next time you hear Manic Monday on the radio sing the verses to 1999 over it... It's the same flow! Yup, more useless info for ya!

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  8. I did not taste too much Mango as well... I did like the vanilla taste but this left me a chalk-like aftertaste as well at the end of every bite.

    Overall, I would give this selection a 6.5/10 rating.

    ReplyDelete

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