Mango Trifle

Here I am, most probably sharing the last recipe on Mango, this summer. Mangoes are hardly seen in the markets these days and the ones available are not so good. When we were en-route to Bangalore from Chennai last weekend, we saw a good number of mango sellers on the highway. Tempted by the large piles of mangoes, we stopped at a so-called shop and nearly dropped our jaws hearing the prices. Juicy, large, yellowish oranges mangoes being sold for Rs.30 a kg. We got a couple of kilos and soon enough regretted having not bought some more. The mangoes turned out to be super sweet, juicy and simply the best mangoes we had this season.

While the mangoes were awesome as it is, I wanted to try one last dessert before it was too late and hence mango trifle. I always loved the idea of different stuff stacked together and had been wanting to try it since so long. When the mangoes were just perfect, why not attempt a mango trifle? This dessert is super quick to make and takes less than 20mins altogether including the assembly. The only wait time is for it to chill but I found a short cut to that as well. I should also say that the dessert is quite filling and one gets to taste different textures. I had all the ingredients with me except for the whipping cream yesterday – it’s always challenging to find it in stores here. Fresh cream never works well even when whipped for long. Few months ago I discovered this whipping cream powder (from Blue Bird) which is economical but one needs to work very quickly using ice cold water, or else it goes runny too. The husband had the brainwave of suggesting an awesome idea yesterday – Mix equal quantities of whipping cream powder and fresh cream – whip together and the result was amazing!

To make Mango Trifle

Serves – 2

Time to prepare – 20mins + cooling time

What I used –

• Fresh Mango Pieces, 1 cup
• Fresh Mango Juice, ½ cup
• Vanilla Custard Powder, 2 tsp
• Milk, 1.5 cup
• Sugar, 4 tsp
• Eggless Plain Vanilla Cake, 4 slices
• Fresh Cream, ½ cup (I used Amul Fresh Cream)
• Whipping Cream Powder, ½ cup (Blue Bird)

How I made –

1. Take a cup of milk and bring it to boil. In another bowl, mix 2 teaspoon of custard powder and 4 teaspoon of sugar with remaining half cup of milk. Make sure there are no lumps. When the milk boils, reduce the flame to low and add the custard powder mixed milk to it. Stir well so that there are no lumps. Keep stirring until the custard is thick and smooth. Remove from flame and let it cool.
2. Chop the cake and mangoes into small cubes.
3. In the serving bowl/cup, start adding a few cubes of the chopped cake. Take a couple of tablespoon of mango juice and cover the cake pieces. Don’t add more juice as the cake can turn soggy.
4. For the next layer, add a couple of tablespoon of custard. Spread it well but don’t fill it up. The layers should be visible. Add fresh chopped mangoes as the next layer.
5. Repeat cakes slices, mango juice, custard mix and mango slices one more time depending on the space remaining in the serving bowl. Set this in the deep freeze until the fresh cream is whipped.
6. In a bowl, add the fresh cream and whipping cream powder. Whip using an electric beater for 4-5mins on medium to high speed. Or alternatively until stiff peaks are formed using a hand beater. Set this cream in the freezer for 5-7mins.
7. Put this cream in a piping bag or icing mould and fill it as the top layer of the mango trifle.
8. Add additional pieces of mango on top and set it in the deep freeze for about 20-25mins and then put it in the refrigerator until served.

Notes:

• I made fresh mango juice at home by blending half a mango with 2 teaspoon of sugar (optional) with few teaspoon of milk. The juice has to be thick in consistency else the cake turns soggy.
• The custard on cooling thickens, so do not overcook it. When it seems thick and smooth, remove it from the flame.
• I used store bought eggless vanilla cake slices as I wanted to make this dessert in a jiffy. If desired, a cake can be baked at home too. Let it cool completely before assembling it into trifle.
• An additional layer of mango jelly can be used too.
• The fresh cream layer can be repeated any number of times – to keep the calories under check, I used it only at the top.
• Putting the dessert in the deep freeze helps it cool faster and it would be ready for consumption very quickly. If you have enough patience unlike me, you can put it in the refrigerator to cool slowly.
• I didn’t add any sugar while whipping the cream as the whipping cream powder has sugar in it. One can add additionally a couple of teaspoon of icing sugar while whipping the cream for added sweetness.