Mango and Cream Semifreddo

A no-churn dream recipe by Louis Thompson

Mango and Cream Semifreddo

by Louis Thompson

I’m from Australia, where the superiority of mangos is unanimously and emphatically recognised. Throughout summer, Mangos are completely ubiquitous, taking pride of place in most supermarkets. Compared to the London mango offering, Australian Calypso, Kensington Pride, and R2E2 mangos are larger, more acidic, and less aromatic than our imported Indian mangos.

For today’s newsletter, I have developed a recipe that highlights the prized qualities of the Alphonso Mango in the only preparation acceptable beyond ripe and raw: cold and creamy. In a nod to the iconic Weis Bar we will be making a semifreddo with a layer of ‘sorbet’ and a layer of cream infused with the mango skins and stones. This is a technique that I first used for the Scratch menu at Spring.

I was struck by their aroma hanging in the air, simply from sitting sliced on a chopping board. That can only mean one thing; volatile flavour compounds which we can capture in dairy. Infusing your skins and stones not only imparts the mangos’ fragrance, it helps to wash off every last drop of juice and flesh from the fruit. Think of it like rinsing out a tin of tomatoes with water and adding it to your sauce.

The Alphonso is particularly suited to this technique not just because of its flavour; it is smaller than other mangos varieties and so has a high ratio of skin and stone to flesh. This is a technique commonly used for Damsons as a similarly high-flavour low-flesh-ratio fruit. Kitty Travers of La Grotta Ices even uses the same technique to make pea ice cream from pea pods!

So take it from an Australian; with the sun finally returning, there is no better to reason to make this dessert. And of course to celebrate and in fact venerate the glory of the king of fruits.

The recipe

by Louis Thompson

Makes a 20x20cm semifreddo to serve 10. You can halve and make in a loaf tin.

Mango ‘Sorbet’

• 6 Alphonso Mangoes (or enough to make 500g puree)

• 100g caster sugar (split)

• 1 Egg white

• 1 Lime (juice)

• 3/8tsp xanthan gum (about 2.5g)

Mango Cream Semifreddo

• Skins and stones of the Alphonso Mangos

• 510ml Double cream

• 120g Caster sugar

• 2 egg whites, about 55-60g

• 85g creme fraiche

• 50g Whole Milk

• 1/4tsp salt

• 1 Lime, zest and juice.

Method

• For the ‘sorbet’: Slice each mango and remove its flesh; You should yield about 500g mango flesh. Save all the stones and skins.

• Mix 50g sugar with the xanthan gum, then add to a blender with the mango flesh and lime juice Blend on high speed for one minute to ensure the xanthan gum is thoroughly blended in. 

• Scrape into a wide bowl and place in the freezer to briefly chill while you prepare the meringue.

• Whisk the egg white to soft peaks then gradually add the remaining sugar to make a thick, glossy meringue. Fold the meringue into the mango puree in three additions. Pour into a lined container and freeze.

• For the cream layer: Place the mango skins and stones into a pot with the cream and very gently warm the cream. There should be no signs of steam or bubbling, we are just trying to bring the mixture to warm room temperature to loosen up the juices. As soon as it is warm, turn off the heat and allow it to cool to room temp for 1-2 hours. Decant and place into the fridge overnight.

• The next day, strain your cream. You will have to work to scrape it all off the mangos, but you should end with approx 425g of mango-scented cream.

• In a large bowl. mix the mango cream along with creme fraiche, milk, lime juice and zest

• Prepare a swiss meringue: combine the egg whites and sugar in a bowl and heat over a bain-marie until warm and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a mixer and whisk to stiff peaks.

• While your meringue whips, whisk your mango cream to soft peaks.
  When the meringue is ready, fold it into your cream in two additions.

• Immediately spread over your mango sorbet. Tap your container on the counter firmly a few times to encourage the semifreddo to fill in any gaps.

• Cover and freeze. To serve, remove from the freezer and leave on the counter for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with more fresh mango, if desired.

You can keep up with Louis’ recipe development and work at Spring via instagram @_louisthompson