Summer Mango Tart

Summer is the happiest time for fruits lovers. There are so many berries, stone fruits and cherries in the market now that sometime I have difficulty deciding what to buy. Naturally, I am tempted to buy all of them! Under such circumstance, my better half would pull me back to reality by asking:
"Are you sure you can finish all these fruits?"
"Remember we still have some strawberries/raspberries/kiwi/blueberries...in the fridge?" and more importantly -
"Are you sure it's the peak season for cherries now? Will the price goes down next week?"

However, everytime we spot mangoes on sale, both our logics fly out of the window. And we load dozen of them into our shopping cart. You probably can tell from my posts on mango cheesecake,mango cream cake,mango clafoutis, mango mascarpone cake that we have a penchant for mango.

Our favorite way to eat mango, is simply eating it out of hand. I feel guilty burying the sweet and juicy mango under layers of cream and other stuff in cake and other baked goods.

However when you have 12 mangoes in the fridge, ripening and begging to be eaten at the same time, it's ok to get creative and use some in a gorgeous tart like this. I use some of the dough leftover from the strawberry rhubarb tart to make the base, and Pierre Herme's vanilla pastry cream to fill it, before piling it up with lots of sweet mango cubes. Kiwi is optional, but I find that the green fruit adds contrast and color to the mango tart.

OCT brings it to the lab, and everyone seems to enjoy it, according to him. So much so that there isn't enough to go around, and the poor guy doesn't manage to eat a slice. I make a small one for myself and promptly devored it after taking a picture.

Unless you absolutely loathe mango, otherwise, how could anyone resist this?

I am submitting this mango tart to Meeta's Monthly Mingle, in which the theme for the month is "Mango Mania"! Woohoo, I can't wait to see many more mango related posts popping up in the blogsphere in the coming month. :)

Mango Tart
1/3 recipe of sweet tart dough, baked and cooled
2-3 ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed
1 kiwi, peeled and cubed
for pastry cream:
(adapted from "Desserts by Pierre Herme")
1 cup 2% milk
1 plump, moist vanilla vean, split lengthwise and scraped
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/6 cup cornstarch, sifted. (1/2 of a 1/3 cup.Eyeball it using the 1/3 cup)
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

To make the pastry cream:
Bring milk and vanilla bean( pulp and pod) to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover the pan, remove from heat and let the liquid be infused with scent of vanilla, for 10 minutes.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and set aside a small bowl that can hold the finished cream and be placed in this ice bath. Allow set aside a fine-meshed strainer.

Whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. While whisking, slowly drizzle a quarter of the hot milk into the yolks. Continue to add in the rest of the milk into the tempered yolks, whisking all the while. Remove the vanilla pod.

Place the saucepan over high heat and whisking vigorously, without stop, bring the mixture to the boil. Continue to whisk another 1-2 minutes, until you notice that the texture of th cream has thicken, and less liquidy, remove from heat. Press the cream through the sieve into the reserved small bowl. Set the bowl in the ice bath prepared earlier, and stirring frequently so that the mixture remains smooth, cool the cream to 140F, as measured on an instant read thermometer. Stir in the butter in two or three additions. Make sure that you don't add the butter in when the mixture is still hot. Or the cream would separate. Stir the cream occasionally until it is completely cool. It is ready to be used at this point or keep refrigerated, until you are ready to assemble the tart.

Assembling the tart:
Spread the desired amount of pastry cream into the tart shell, place the cubed mango and kiwi on top of the cream. Enjoy!

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Looking at the bright side: Mango Mascarpone Mousse Cake

Just the other day, OCT and I lamented on the higher cost of living here in Atlanta, compared to our previous stint in St Louis. Not only do we pay a steeper rent, we also find the price of grocery here more expensive. We could no longer find the one dollar a bunch asparagus, nor 3 for two dollar red bell peppers that we were spoilt with at St Louis Soulard market. The rice which is a staple in our household is five dollars more per bag; even the all purpose flour demands fifty cents more than before.

Surviving on a postdoc fellow income, we certainly feel the pinch. But what good does it serve to whine about things we couldn't change right? Looking at the bright side, I have found some juicy sweet mangoes that could rival those from my childhood. Not to mention, they come with an endearing price tag too. They were fifty cent each in the Dekalb Farmer's Market the last time I looked. I told OCT that I intended to eat mango for breakfast / lunch / dinner / dessert from now on. Like any mango deprived people would do, I loaded a dozen of them into my shopping cart. At the same time, I started to think of all the wonderful things I'd do with them. Sorbet is definitely on the menu. Maybe a tropical tart or pavlova loaded with mango? OCT however, requested for a mango mousse cake. Sure, I can do that. It's only once in a blue moon that my rice-craving husband asks for something sweet for a change.

I don't really have a recipe for the mousse and mango mirror, I simply tasted and adjusted the flavor as I moved along. However, I want to bring your attention to the sponge cake base. The recipe comes from none other than Christopher Kimball, the editor of Cook's Illustrated. He calls it the fool-proof sponge cake. The method of mixing is new to me, and I doubt it would work. But who am I to argue with the editor of Cook's Illustrated, who has all the answers to the perfect recipes of everything under the sun? So I sceptically followed the recipe as it was written. To my surprise, the recipe yielded the most amazing sponge cake I have ever whipped out. Plus it doesn't require much folding, which could intimidate many novice bakers. I highly recommend anyone who needs a fool proof recipe for sponge cake to give this a try.

As for the mango mascarpone mousse and mirror, I promise the recipe will follow, after I have infiltrated my blood stream with enough caffeine tomorrow morning. Or afternoon. ;p Meanwhile, checkout the fool proof sponge cake recipe below.

Foolproof Sponge Cake
adapted from Christopher Kimball'sThe Kitchen Detective

Softened unsalted butter for the pans
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons milk (I used soy milk)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8-or-9-inch cake pans and cover pan bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Whisk/sieve the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Take the sauce pan off the heat and add in vanilla extract; keep the mixture covered and warm.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer or whisk) and reserving the yolks in a small bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites to soft, moist peaks. If using a standing mixer transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl (you don't need to clean the bowl).

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and turns a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add in the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.

Sprinkle/sieve the flour mixture over the egg whites and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes. Also make sure that you have incorporated the butter into the mixture. There should not be visible grease/oil as you pour the mixture into the cake pans.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, about 16 to 18 minutes for 9-inch cake pans and 20 to 22 minutes for 8-inch cake pans.

Cool completely on racks. Run a thin knife around the inside of the cake pans and then invert them onto the racks (or onto cardboard rounds or tart pan bottoms) to release the cakes from the pans. Remove the parchment paper.

To make the Mango Mascarpone Mousse
2 cups mango puree, from 2 large ripe mango
1 teaspoon of lime juice
3/4 cup heavy cream,
3/4 cup mascarpone,
1 (1/4oz)pack of gelatin powder,
1/4 cup sugar or more to taste

Puree flesh of 2 large mango in a blender to obtain 2 cups of mango puree. Add in the lime juice.

Sprinkle the gelatin powder in 1/4 cup of water, set aside for 5 minutes. After that, heat the mixture in microwave for 10 second, until the gelatin has dissolved.

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer/hand mixer, beat the mascarpone and sugar until it becomes light, add in the mango puree mixture and beat for another 3 minutes to combine. Taste, make sure that it's slightly sweeter than how you would like the mousse, keep in mind that the heavy cream fold in later will somehow dilute the flavor. Add in extra sugar, one tablespoon at a time until the desired sweetness. Pour the mango-mascarpone mixture to another big bowl, gently stir in the gelatin mixture. Mix well to combine.

Without washing the whisk attachment and mixing bowl, beat heavy cream until medium peak form. Fold the heavy cream into the mango mascarpone mixture.

To assemble:

Using a 8/9-inch sprinform pan or ring, layer one sponge cake at the bottom of the pan, and pour half of the mousse in. Use an offset spatula to smoothen the mousse. Next, layer the second sponge cake on top of the mousse. Follow by the remaining mousse. Cover the mousse with saran wrap and chill the cake while preparing the mirror.

To make the Mango Mirror:
1 cup of mango puree, from one ripe mango
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 a pouch of gelatin powder

Sprinkle the gelatin powder in 1/4 cup of water, set aside for 5 minutes. When the gelatin is softened, microwave the mixture for 10 seconds, until the gelatin has fully dissolved.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of mango puree with 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice and 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar, to taste. Mix in the gelatin powder. Once the mirror is made, immediately pour on top of the mousse. Chill in fridge for at least 4 hours.

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Birthday Mango Cream Cake

I have just gone through some of the recipes I made but have not published on this blog yet. And I am now torn between blogging about something new or something old. I guess it won't really matter to you, so here's what I made last week for OCT's birthday. A Mango Cream Cake. Mango cake holds a special place in our household. We don't normally bake it because of the lack of good sweet mango here. And I also can't seem to find a reliable recipe on mango cake. The only time it graces our dining table is either OCT or my birthday.

These are time when I am more adventurous and not stress about the outcome. Unlike baking cakes for friends' birthdays when I have to pray hard for the cakes to turn out well. Luckily most of them request for chocolate cakes, which I am quite competent now. Our birthdays, as it turns out is the best time to experiment. To be fair, I did ask OCT what cake he wanted for his birthday. The answer was consistent all the time, and he said he only wanted mango cake. Even if there's a possibility of having an "inedible birthday cake". You can probably tell that OCT is quite a mango aficionado now.

With that in mind, I started to creat one cake based exclusively on trial and error. With the exception on the cake base. I used a base I had tried with good result before. Strictly speaking, I only need to get the mango cream filling and topping right to fulfill my husband's birthday wish. Even if it turned out miserable, I guess we can still scrap out the yummy cake base to eat.

Because I wasn't sure how much filling I would need, I ended up making a lot more than required. As a result, the birthday cake turned out having a bulging top.Maybe if I didn't try to be creative and used lady fingers to line up the pan and dropped in a can of lychee, there would be more room for the mango cream. But both the lady fingers and lychee proved to be worthy for the space they occupied. They just added so much interesting flavors to the cake.

For the decoration, I initially wanted to pipe "happy birthday" only. But then I melted too much chocolate and I didn't want to waste it. So it ended up on the cake, as you can see in the picture below. I simply pipe whatever I could think of. And the result was a casual and messy cake. I probably would have made the cake more formal and piped "OCT" instead of "Baby" if we invited other friends. But since it's just the two of us, I guess I can call him whatever I want. :)

Before OCT was home, I tied the cake with a satin ribbon, so it would look like a present. I feel rather guilty for not getting him anything because he always shower me with gifts on birthdays and anniversaries. Anyway, he said he wanted no present and a low key birthday. So I guess I have to grant the birthday boy his wish!

I am also submitting this mango cream cake as my entry for the latest edition of "Waiter, there's something in my....Layered Cake", which is hosted by Andrew of Spittoon Extra. Be sure to check out the round up later on Andrew's blog.

Mango Cream Cake

For the cake
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks(10 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

For the filling and topping ***(see note below for suggestions of the amount of ingredients used)
About 2 pounds of mango flesh
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
sugar to taste
2 packets of gelatin powder
1 can of lychee in syrup, with lychee drained and roughly chopped; reserve syrup

lady fingers
melted dark chocolate

To make the cake base,
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter two 9x2 inch round cake pans, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms of the pan with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on baking sheet.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in
a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the yolk, beating for one minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alernately with the buttermilk. adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes,rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cook for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

To make mango filling and topping,
Puree mango flesh with some sugar syrup from canned lychee. Taste and adjust sweetness accordingly.Pour out the pureed mango into a large bowl.

Sprinkle 2 packets of gelatin powder with 1/4 cup of sugar syrup from the canned lychee. Heat the mixture in microwave for 30 seconds until the gelatin solution dissolves and turns clear. Leave to cool slightly.

Using a stand mixer with whip attachment, beat whipping cream until stiff.

Slowly dribble gelatin solution into pureed mango.Stir to mix well. Set aside 1/2 cup of mango mixture in another medium bowl for topping. Fold some whipped cream into the remaining mango mixture to lighten. Continue to fold the remaining whipped cream thoroughly but lightly into the mango mixture.

To assemble
Carefully place one cake layer on the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan or a cake ring. Brush the top of the cake with some sugar syrup from canned lychee. Scatter the chopped lychee on top of the cake.Brush one side of the lady fingers with the same syrup before lining them on the sides of the ring. Brushed side facing inward.

Carefully pour in the mango cream and top with the second cake layer. Brush the top with syrup. Pour the rest of the mango cream on top.Followed by the reserved topping.

Chill overnight before decorating.

***Note: you will have way too much mango cream using the above recipe.1 cup of whipping cream and 1 packet of gelatin powder, with the same amount of mango flesh (2 pounds) should yield a more intense mango flavored cream. Having said that, I have not tried out this combination yet.

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