Mango Ice Cream with Limes & Lemon Geranium
Organic mangoes are at their peak now in Cape Town and I am finding ways to create glorious recipes to celebrate them. In this recipe I made a quick puree with mangoes and hint of lime juice to balance their sweetness before swirling it into a rich and creamy custard.
I have included a no-churn recipe too.
Its all about the base
Most of my ice-creams has the same custard base because that is what ice cream actually is – it’s a proper vanilla custard that you freeze.
The great thing about having a wonderful foundation base of delicious things (organic cream, eggs and sugar) are that you can add any seasonal fruit at its peak to create a great tasting ice cream. I love how you can preserve the seasons this way!
More ice cream recipes
- proper vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce
- strawberry no churn ice cream
Infusing the cream
Infusing, simply means, ‘to flavour’ and by adding subtle flavoured produce like herbs or leaves to the warmed cream, you can add additional undertone flavours in a very subtle way. Think, fig leaves, lemon verbena and vanilla pods. In this recipe I infused the cream with lemon geranium leaves.
Save the egg whites
In this recipe we are using only the yolks of the organic eggs. Egg whites freeze easily and can be used to make a wonderful pavlova.
TIP: I freeze my whites according to weight I normally work on 1 egg white = 30g, so 4 egg whites will be 120g and enough to make a large summer berry pavlova.
Don’t have an ice cream machine?
No problem, the ice cream might not be as smooth as if made in an ice-cream machine but who cares. Simply follow the recipe up until step 7, adding most of the mango puree, pour the mango custard into a shallow container and freeze, stirring every 30 min until the mango ice cream is thick and nearly frozen, swirl the reserved mango ontop (like the picture) and freeze.
Mango Ice Cream with Limes & Lemon Geranium
Equipment
- ice cream machine (have included a no churn method)
- electric mixer
Ingredients
Vanilla Custard Base
- 850 ml organic single cream
- 225 ml excellent whole milk
- 8 lemon geranium leaves (optional)
- 8 organic egg yolks (freeze whites for a pavlova)
- 175 g caster sugar
Mango Puree
- 1 kg mangoes about 4 large ones, skinned and cut into chunks
- 70 g unrefined organic brown sugar
- 1 lime juiced and zest
Instructions
- To make the puree - add the mangoes, sugar and lime juice to a blender and blend until smooth. I don't like the fine 'hairs' of a mango, as an extra step I sieve my puree using a spatula but you don't need to. Taste and adjust the puree, its should be sweet with a hint of lime. Set aside.
- For the custard base - in a large saucepan, combine the cream and the milk. Very gently heat until just steaming, do not boil. Add the geranium leaves if using and infuse off the heat, for at least 30minutes.
- In an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and thick, at least 10 minutes. FYI this is called a sabayon and can be a dessert in itself.
- Pour a little infused (and now cooled) cream into the egg yolks and combine. Add all the cream mixture and combine, add the mixture to a clean saucepan and now comes the really important part!
- GENTLY heat the mixture until it thickens. Too hot and the mixture will curdle, you want to see steam but no bubbling of any kind. A way of knowing if your mixture has thickened is if the mixture ‘sticks’ to the back of a wooden spoon and it leaves a trail if you run your finger through it. Another way is to hear and feel the mixture, when knocking the wooden spoon to the base of the pot it will sound 'hollow' and the mixture will feel thickened when stirring.
- Pour the cream into a large bowl, cover the top with plastic to prevent a skin forming (i.e the plastic should lie on the custard), let the custard cool completely overnight in the fridge. In the morning remove the geranium leaves.
- Stir most of the puree (reserve some puree for the topping) into the cooled custard and add the lime zest. Keep the extra puree aside for decoration.
- If you don't have an ice-cream machine, no problem, pour the mango custard into a shallow container and freeze, stirring every 30 min until the mango ice cream is thick and nearly frozen, swirl the reserved mango on top (like the picture) and freeze.
- Alternatively, into an ice-cream machine, pour the mango custard (not the reserved puree) and churn until nearly frozen, add to a freezer container, swirl the remaining puree through the top (like the pic). Freeze.
- Take the ice cream out of the freezer for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
