Fresh Mango tartelette

My favourite desserts are fruit based. I like my chocolate cake with strawberries or figs on tops and fruit tarts are my favourite. Since it is mango season and all I tried to make mango tartelette*. The best part about fruit tarts is the Vanilla crème patissière which I absolutely relish! The tart base is a sureshot recipe of my MIL's and never fails me.

 

What you need:

 For the base:

• 200 gms white flour
• 100 gms butter
• 1 egg
• 25 gms sugar
• a pinch of salt
• Cold water (to make dough)

For the crème patissière:

• 200 ml Fresh cream
• 200ml Full cream milk
• 1 steeped tbsp white flour
• Two vanilla sticks
• 5 eggs
• 75gms sugar

Topping:

3 juicy mangoes  cut in small pieces (to make 6 tartelets) 

HOW?

For the base:

•  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius
• Mix the flour, butter, sugar, salt and egg with your fingers, till you get a uniform mixture. 
• Add ice-cold water as needed and make a smooth dough.
• Spread the dough in the tartelette containers and put in oven for 10-15 minutes. 
• When it begins to brown take it out and let it cool to room temperature.

For the Vanilla Crème Patissière:

• Slice open the vanilla sticks and put in a saucepan with milk and cream. 
• Heat the cream, milk and vanilla sticks on low heat till it begins to simmer.
• Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together, then add the flour mixing well.
• Take the milk and cream off heat and pour into egg flour mixture.
• Put the whole thing on heat again and let it thicken. As it begins to thicken take it off heat and plunge the saucepan in cold water and keep stirring till it cools. Refrigerate till needed.

Once the base has cooled fill the tartelettes  with Crème Patissière and refrigerate. Top with chopped mangoes just before serving.

Enjoy the chilled juicy mangoes mixed with the creamy vanilla and the crunchy tart base blending all together in your mouth. A delight for the palate in summer!

Don't forget to comment after trying it out. Suggestions are welcome.

*Tartelette is a small one portion tart. Fruit tarts with creme patissiere are usually served as one portion tartelettes

Mango Cheese Cake

The best part about Summer for me has to be undoubtedly MANGOES!! If some could eat icecream morning, noon and night, ;-) my food of choice would be mangoes - breakfast, lunch and dinner!!

I have been pretty darned stressed with the PhD and making (and then eating them) desserts is my de-stressor! So I tried a couple of mango recipes and here is the first. It is simple, takes about an hour to prepare and an hour to bake and a recipe that can't fail!

To make Mango cheese cake you need:

• 200 gms paneer (cottage cheese or you can use cream cheese if you find it!)
• 2 medium sized juicy mangoes
• 1 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 packet digestive biscuits
• Butter (to make dough for base)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 4 eggs

HOW?

• Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius.
• Crush the digestive biscuits in a bowl, you should have about 2 cups, add butter and make dough and spread evenly in the tart tin. Make sure you don't leave any gaps in the base. Seal with saline wrap and freeze till needed.
• Cut the paneer and mango into pieces and blend till you get a smooth paste.
• Beat the eggs and the sugar till fluffy and mix together with the mango-paneer paste.
• Pour over digestive biscuit base and place tart tin in a bigger container with a little water (helps the cheese cake stay humid).
• Put the ensemble in the oven for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven. When the mango cheese part begins to brown slightly, your cheese cake is done. Take it out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature. Serve cold.

Try it and tell me how it turned out!
Bon Appetit!

Salted Caramel Ice cream

The 42 degree heat in Hyderabad is driving me absolutely mad! Im tempted to eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And while in this state of mind I was flipping through the Delicious magazine and I came across this incredibly interesting Salted Caramel Ice cream. As exotic as it sounds, the ingredients are surprisingly mundane, things you would always have in your store cupboard. So I made this the day I read the recipe, and it was a huge hit, especially with Mom who loves mild flavours.

What you need:

 For the ice cream

• 330 g caster sugar
• 80 g butter
• 500 ml milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 250 ml cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the salted caramel

• 110 g caster sugar
• 3/4 tsp sea salt

 How:
  
           For the salted caramel:

• Line a tray with baking paper. Stir the sugar in a small saucepan over low heat for 1-2 minutes to dissolve. Increase the heat to medium and simmer, without stirring, for a further 4-5 minutes until it's a golden caramel (watch carefully so it doesn't burn and working with sugar is a little bit of a pain). Remove from heat, sprinkle in salt and immediately pour onto tray in a thin layer. Cool completely. Crush three-quarters of the praline into small pieces, then break remainder into large shards. Set aside.
  
   For the ice cream
  

• Stir the sugar in a small saucepan over low heat for 1-2 minutes to dissolve. Increase the heat to medium and simmer, without stirring, for a further 4-5 minutes until it's a golden caramel (watch carefully so it doesn't burn). Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, followed by the pure cream. Return the pan to low heat. Stir until smooth.

• In a large bowl, whisk the yolks by hand for 1 minute until frothy. Slowly pour in the warm caramel, whisking constantly. Return mixture to cleaned pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

• Fill a sink or large bowl with iced water. Pour caramel mixture into a clean bowl, then rest bowl in ice bath and allow to cool completely, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whip thickened cream and vanilla to soft peaks. Gently fold into cooled caramel mixture with crushed caramel.

• If you have an ice cream maker then, churn this beautiful golden mixture in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions, then freeze until firm. Else just freeze in an airtight container and bring out into the fridge and let it ripen for 20 mins before serving/ gobbling it.