Lady Lunchalot

I’ve been on a bit of a mango binge lately, which isn’t unusual for me at Christmas time. For those of you in the northern hemisphere it might seem a little strange, but for me Christmas is all about mango juice dripping off my chin, bowls of gleaming cherries like shiny tree decorations, plums, apricots, peaches and an endless supply of seafood.

Mmmm…

So I decided to make a mango mousse for our New Year’s Eve barbecue. Mango mousse is the ultimate summer dessert. It’s just a mix of pureed mangoes, whipped cream, sugar, egg white and gelatine. Mix it together (being careful to fold the egg whites and whipped cream in - you want to keep those tiny air bubbles intact), pour it into a big bowl and let it set in the fridge for a few hours.

However I messed up my gelatine estimate and my mousse didn’t set, so we had a kind of mango custard instead (if you change the name no one will ever know it didn’t actually work!). As per usual, I’d catered for an army, so there was a huge tub of leftover mousse in the fridge the next morning. The logical place to put it was in the ice cream maker that Za and Thomas gave O and I for a wedding present - thanks guys! I’ve just had a bowl, and I’ve got about a litre of it in the freezer. Leftover mango mousse makes the BEST mango ice cream ever.