What could be more perfect for a summer holiday recipe than something involving mangoes, writes Verandah Magazine’s resident food columnist Belinda Jeffery. At the moment they’re in season, cheap and delicious…
I never tire of mangoes. Frankly I can eat them until the cows come home, and we’ve been doing just that these past few weeks, making real little pigs of ourselves. I remember my dad saying that they should only be eaten in a bathtub, and I well understand why – these are so luscious that the juice leaves sticky trails down our arms as we eat them, but they are oh-so-good! I could quite happily go on ad infinitum eating them just as they are, however sometimes it’s nice to gild the lily a little bit, which is just what these pretty tartlets do. The recipe is simple – no pastry, just a biscuit-crumb crust, delicate passionfruit cream and slices of sweet, juicy mango.
Simple little mango and passionfruit tartlets
You can make the tartlet crusts a day ahead if you like and store them in an airtight container (just make sure it is airtight, otherwise they will soften rapidly in summer’s humidity). The passionfruit cream can be made a few hours ahead, which really only leaves the mangoes to be sliced and passionfruit seeds scooped out of their leathery shells onto the tartlets just before you serve them.
Biscuit crusts:
250g digestive or #ginger nut biscuits, finely crushed
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Filling:
4 large or 8 medium-sized passionfruit
250ml sour cream
300ml double thick cream
½ cup (80g) icing sugar
Topping:
2 large ripe mangoes, peeled and thinly sliced
Seeds from 1-2 passionfruit
Tiny mint leaves, to garnish, optional
(I use Swedish ginger biscuits for this – they have a lovely, subtle ginger flavour)
Preheat your oven to 180C. Line six 11cm tartlet tins with foil, leaving a small overhang all the way around. Use a folded cloth to press the foil down snugly to ensure it follows the contours of the tins. (I often sit one tin in another and press down lightly on it to make quite sure it is as snug as possible.) Sit the tins on a baking tray and set them aside.
To make the biscuit crust, tip the crushed biscuits into a bowl and pour in the melted butter, then stir the two together until the mixture is crumbly. Divide this evenly among the tartlet tins. Now press the crust mixture firmly and evenly onto the sides and base of each tin. I hate to say it, but this is easier said than done. I start off using a spoon to spread it evenly, then my fingers to press it into the sides of the tin, and finally I use a small tumbler to press the mixture firmly onto the base to compact the crumbs.
Put the tray with the tartlets into the oven and bake them for 12 minutes until the crumb mixture is slightly darker. When they are ready, remove the tray from the oven and transfer the tins to a cooling rack. The mixture may well have puffed up and slipped down the sides of the tins a bit at this stage. To remedy this, hold one tin at a time in a thick cloth to protect your fingers from the heat and use the back of a spoon to push the mixture back up the sides. Leave the crusts to cool completely in the tins.
Meanwhile, make the passionfruit cream. To do this, halve all the passionfruit then scoop the pulp out into a fine sieve sitting over a measuring jug or bowl. Use the back of a spoon to work the pulp against the sieve to extract as much juice as possible – you need 1/3 cup (80ml) all up (if you have any juice leftover it makes a lovely drink, mixed into some fresh pineapple or orange juice.) Set the juice aside and discard the seeds.
Spoon the sour cream and double thick cream into a chilled bowl. Sift in the icing sugar and using a balloon whisk, gently whip the mixture until it is softly thick but not stiff. Pour in the passionfruit juice and stir it gently with the whisk – the mixture may thin a bit initially, but will thicken again quickly. Cover the bowl and store it in the fridge.
When you are ready to serve the tartlets, use the overhanging foil to help you gently ease the crusts from the tartlet tins. Peel away the foil – the crusts are very fragile at the edges so be careful – then sit a tart crust on each dessert plate. Divide the passionfruit cream evenly between them. Lay the mango slices decoratively over each one, then spoon a few passionfruit seeds on top. If you’re using the mint leaves, scatter some over each tartlet. Serves 6.
