Spring is teasing us at the moment. One minute it’s shorts and t.shirts (for the eternal optimists out there) and the next it’s winter woolies. Then when we think the sun is here for keeps, the heavens open in all its glory forcing us to rush for our sturdiest brollies and toughest wellies. It’s enough to send you fleeing to sunnier climates. So to bring you some exotic escapism, it's mangoes to the rescue :-). In short, I can never get enough of the stuff. Mango desserts, mango lassies, mango milkshakes, mango juices, mango chutneys, mango mango mango :-). I’m sure you get my drift. If it has a mango ring to it then I’m totally yours.
I bought an unripe mango from my local supermarket a couple of days ago and it was so green I had to wrap it tightly in a plastic bag to hasten the ripening process. I’m sorry but crunchy mangoes just don’t cut the mustard for me. Fortunately, the trick worked a treat and before long my mango was ready for baking and icing. To be honest, I find ready-to-eat mangoes a little difficult to find in supermarkets before they are thrown out, so you have to be quick off the mark to catch them in the act. Careful how you play this though; rugby tackle them to the ground and you could wind up with more than you bargained for:-).
The easier option I guess would have been to use tinned mango pulp. My only problem with that is the overt sweetness and lack of natural mango scent. I have used tinned mango pulp in a few recipes and have always been disappointed with the outcome, hence the reason I opted for the fresh alternative.
A couple of
seconds in the blender and the pureed mango was good to go. It should
have been enough on its own but typically, I wanted an accompaniment to
give the mango cupcakes a little je ne sais quoi. That’s where the chocolates come in. I
didn’t have to look very far before I spotted a bar asking to be used.
As a minimalist I wrestled with the idea of a mango and choco combo but
it didn’t last long. My friend Lara recently introduced me to Montezuma’s
organic chocolates and it just so happened that I had a bar lying
around. They even sell kilo bars and quite frankly that's just oh so so
very cruel… Anyway, with the chocolate sitting there still staring at
me, a decision had to be made pretty sharpish because it was either
going to wind up in a chocolate ganache or my mouth.
I’m
glad to say that the chocolate ganache won that standoff:-).
Once the mango cupcakes were ready I piled them with chocolate ganache before finally completing the look with a generous mountain of mango buttercream.
Thanks again to my colleagues who without fail dished out their thoughts and recommendations. Just as I figured, my enthusiasm to mangofy (if ever there is such a word) the buttercream frosting unfortunately created a runny mess, and resulted in abandoning any fancy piping plans I might have had. I’ll just have to resist the temptation to go overboard next time. I have amassed quite a collection of piping bags and nozzles and can’t wait to use them next week.
Cupcake Treats London
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