Another year, another Mango Season in South Florida.  This is now my third Mango Madness post, as I did this in 2014 and 2015 with great success.  But for those of you just tuning in, I will fill you in.  During Mango Season, I find myself getting a large quantity of mangoes that I don’t always know what to do with.  I mean, mangoes are great to eat just as-is, but there are only so many you can have.  Plus, it doesn’t take long for them to go from “just right” to overripe, after which the only thing you can really do is puree it and use it somehow.  That was the start of Mango Madness.

As each year goes by, it gets harder for me to think of things to do with mango that I haven’t done the previous year.  I spent most of May and June fretting about whether Mango Madness would be as good as previous years, as my brain reserves were running low.  But, thanks to Google, feedback from friends and family, and random “Eureka!” moments, I have managed to make the 2016 chapter of Mango Madness just as prolific as the last two!

So, what are some new things that I made with mango this year?  Check it out!

Mango Lassi is a accompaniment to spicy food, or just a healthy pick-me-up at any time of the day.  Plus, since it’s basically just a mango and yogurt smoothie, it’s super easy to make.  Just blend equal parts mango puree and plain yogurt together, then sweeten to taste with honey.  I like to bottle it to take to work.

Take the classic Strawberry Cream Cake and make it a Mango Cream Cake!  Just replace the strawberries with chopped mango and add a little bit of mango puree to the whipped cream.

Mango Pastelitos already have a dedicated blog post here, and they’re worth trying out!

Mango pastry cream is delicious on its own, but also has many uses.  Plus, it’s also a good way to use up a large amount of milk that you may be looking to find a use for.  I used this recipe as a guide, but made a few changes.  I used fresh mango pulp instead of canned, omitted the cardamom and saffron, and used vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean paste.  I also went light on the vanilla so that it didn’t overpower the mango flavor.

 

 

With all of that mango pastry cream lying around, I had the idea to make little mango tarts.  But, being too lazy to make tart shells, I went ahead and filled store-bought phyllo cups with the cream, and then topped each “tart” with a fresh raspberry.  Simple AND delicious.

Mango mousse is delicious, refreshing, and only uses four ingredients.  Whip 3/4 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Add 1 tbsp piping gel, then continue to whip until stuff peaks form.  Fold in 3/4 cup mango puree and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, pour into serving cups, and refrigerate until set.  Yummy!

Mango Ice Cream Cake!  The name should say it all, but I will elaborate.  It’s a batch of mango ice cream sitting on top of a blondie.  Top with some fresh raspberry sauce, and you’ve got a winning dessert that can be made in advance!

Mango macaron ice cream sandwiches!  Using BraveTart’s macaron recipe, I made mango macaron shells by adding 3/4 oz of freeze dried mango to the macaron batter.  Make some mango ice cream (my favorite recipe is this one) and freeze it in a 13″ x 9″ pan.  Once frozen, cut circles of ice cream about the size of your macaron shells, and sandwich one round of ice cream between two macaron shells.

Replace the peaches in your favorite peach cobbler recipe (I used this one) with mango, and you’ve got yourself a mango cobbler!  Since mango is incredibly sweet, I also reduce the sugar in the fruit filling by half.

I love Mango Madness because it really challenges me to be creative and think outside of the box sometimes.  Sometimes, it’s even like a race to see how many things I can make before the mangoes go bad.  There are things that I would never have thought to make before that I now wonder how I did without.  But, the stakes are raised for next year.  Will I be able to conjure up some new, mango-centric recipes for next year’s Mango Madness?  I guess I had better start brainstorming now!

A big thank you to everyone that supplied me with mangoes this year.  As you can see, they were put to good use.  Until next year!