Mango mania with mango mess

The good news is that mangoes are in season but the bad news is that the season only lasts a couple of months. I am talking about Indian and Pakistani mangoes, I just love them!

I can hear you saying, surely we have mangoes all year round don’t we? Well we do, but these particular mangoes are less fibrous and are generally just much sweeter than other mangoes. I think they taste like nectar from heaven!

OK, perhaps I am being a little melodramatic but that’s me, sometimes more drama queen than spice queen.

So what can we make with these seasonal, sweet and juicy mangoes? Sometimes there is no need to do anything except just slice and eat - that’s what my husband does.

What could be simpler, or is it more simple? I never really know how to say that. Sorry, I am digressing, back to mangoes. I was catering a garden party in Maxey a few years ago and my client wanted an Indian dessert but nothing too Indian, if you know what I mean.

So, I designed this “East Meets West” type of dessert for her. I took a quintessential English dessert and added my twist - try it for yourself, my mouth-watering Mango Mess is sweet, satisfying and best of all, simple to make. RECIPE FOR MANGO MESS

Preparation time: 10 minutes Assembly time: 10 minutes Makes approximately 8 individual portions INGREDIENTS 500ml whipping cream 200g tinned mango pulp 2 medium sized mangoes

8 ready-made meringue nests (5x7cm)

2 tablespoons of caster sugar METHOD

1. Peel the mangoes and dice into 1cm cubes by carefully cutting down either side of the fattestpart, sometimes called the “cheek”. Take that piece and score lengthways and widthways, making small squares.

Turn the skin inside out and you should have a mango that looks like a hedgehog.

Cut out the juicy little cubes of mango. (See Photo)

2. In a large bowl, add the sugar to the cream and whip until you have stiff peaks, you can do this by hand or an electric mixer, I do it by hand, doesn’t take very long to be honest.

3. Carefully crush the meringues into the cream, add the mango pieces and fold mixture together.

4. Into small dessert bowls, or I like to uses martini glasses, add approximately 2 heaped tablespoons of the mixture and drizzle mango pulp on top as a dressing,

5. Sprinkle with a little edible silver glitter and serve immediately. PIMP UP YOUR PAVLOVA

Last week, I cooked for my very good friend Michelle.

As a birthday surprise for her sister, I created a three tier Mango Pavlova. After she cut it, I took great satisfaction in crunching the structure, putting it into cocktail glasses and serving it sprinkled in edible silver glitter - very bling!

If you have any questions, email me at parveen@ the-spicequeen.com and I will answer your cooking queries.