7.02.15
The Mango Tree: Mango Vanilla Gelato
Often inspiration arrives unexpectedly, as it did this past April in the form of an email. As I browsed through my new email list, one item stood out. Aside from the fact that it was from my son, Greg, who I am always happy to hear from, the subject matter definitely alerted my curiosity; it just said “mangoes”, but the email message itself didn’t give many details: “our mango tree is almost ripe. hope all is well. will call in a bit. gg”. I noticed immediately that there was an attachment, a picture of a mango tree literally dripping with green mangoes. “Dripping” was the best word I could think of to describe the way each mango hung from the tree on its own long stem. Greg and his wife, Alicia, had just rented a house in south Florida in January, and now found themselves the custodians of a dripping mango tree loaded with ripening mangoes. This was the first inkling I had that mangoes might be in my future.
Greg & Alciia’s “Dripping” Mango Tree
As Memorial Day weekend approached, I received another email from Greg telling me that “the mangoes are ready” and he would be shipping me a box in a few days. This time, the subject line said: “best recipe for mango ice cream and/or gelato?” Greg and Alicia had dusted off their old Cuisinart ice cream maker and wanted to make some ice cream or gelato; they needed a recipe. Of course I have a recipe, but it is a professional recipe from my pastry chef days and makes fourteen quarts of mango gelato; the basic gelato mix for it calls for eight half gallons of milk and two half-gallons of heavy cream. The professional recipes also use several ingredients that are not available to the home cook, so this was an issue also; I’d have to make some substitutions.
Where to start? I knew that I had to start at the beginning and create a home-size gelato mix, which is a gelato base that is one of the basic ingredients in almost all of my gelato flavors. It took ten tries to get the recipe to my liking, (I love a project and a challenge like this) and you can see the results of all this testing in my last post: Shirl’s Gelato Mix (7.01.15). It calls for one quart of milk and a half-pint of heavy cream and is enough mix to make two one-quart batches of gelato when other flavoring ingredients are added.
Next, my challenge was to create a one-quart home recipe for mango gelato. Since I have always liked the flavor combination of mangoes and vanilla, I chose to go with Mango Vanilla Gelato. While waiting for that box of mangoes from Florida, I headed out to the store looking for the ripest mangoes I could find so that I could begin testing my mango gelato. I had a choice: Champagne mangoes or organic mangoes from Mexico. I bought some of each and after I let them ripen a few days, they both tasted great, so juicy and sweet. Either of these varieties works for this gelato.
The first question I asked myself was whether I wanted to use puréed fresh mangoes in the gelato or whether I wanted to cook them in some way. Which would give the gelato a better flavor? After several experiments, I decided that a little cooking concentrated the flavor. So I used a method that I’ve used many times before to make Baked Peach Purée. To use this method for mangoes, go to Baked Mango Vanilla Purée. Here is a brief summary of how this method works: peel, then cut off chunks and spread them in a pan. Rub vanilla bean seeds into some sugar, sprinkle over the mangoes, cover the pan with foil, and bake about fifteen minutes at 400°F (204°C). This is a good way to permeate the mangoes with a little vanilla flavor. When they are cool, purée in a blender and refrigerate until cold. Although I prefer baked purée for this recipe because it provides a little more flavor, you can also use fresh unbaked mangoes to make the purée.
MAKING MANGO VANILLA GELATO: STEP-BY-STEP
I recommend making the purée, whether fresh or baked, and Shirl’s Gelato Mix the day before you plan to make the gelato; this way they are both very cold (important!) when you are ready to mix and churn (spin) the gelato.
These photos show making the gelato with fresh Champagne Mangoes.
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- Champagne Mangoes
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- Puréeing Fresh Mangoes
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- Fresh Mango Purée
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- Adding Mango Purée to Shirl’s Gelato Mix
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- Mixing Mango Vanilla Gelato with Immersion Blender
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- Freshly Churned Mango Vanilla Gelato
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- Taking Mango Vanilla Gelato out of Ice Cream Maker
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- Always Chill Containers in Freezer
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- Mango Vanilla Gelato Ready for Freezer
As I finished this post, the box of mangoes arrived from Florida, (more gelato ahead!) and I got another email from Greg: It read: “fyi. apparently we also have a guava tree. it is starting to bear fruit. lol”. Another project?
Box of Mangoes from Florida
Mango Vanilla Gelato
Italian: "Mango Vaniglia"
YIELD: ABOUT 1 QUART GELATO
Ingredients
- 720 grams Shirl's Gelato Mix chilled ( 2 3/4 cups) (See Separate Recipe)
- 200 grams Baked Mango Vanilla Purée chilled (7/8 cup) (See Separate Recipe)
- or: Fresh Mango Purée unbaked
- 30 grams superfine sugar 2 1/2 Tbsp
- 20 grams lime juice from 1 lime (4 tsp)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 970 grams = Total 34 oz 2# 2 oz
- TOTAL FLAVORING = 20.9%
- - Mango Purée = 20.6%
- - Vanilla Extract = .3 %
- TOTAL SUGAR CONTENT = 19.3%
Instructions
- Scale cold Gelato Mix into container.
- Combine cold purée, superfine sugar, lime juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix into Gelato Mix using an immersion blender (hand blender)
- Place in freezer 30 minutes before churning to chill further, to 32° - 35°F (0° - 2°C). Doing this will reduce the time it takes to churn in ice cream maker, incorporating less air.
- Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. This recipe will fill a 1 1/2-quart machine slightly more than half full, yielding about one quart of finished gelato.
- Pack into container and freeze several hours or overnight before serving..
Notes
Florida Mangoes
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!
Shirl
