Cook With Kids: Mango Cream Parfait

For me, summers spell M-A-N-G-O-E-S and truck loads of them. I make sure to eat my favourite fruit in all its forms. A plate of freshly sliced mangoes after food becomes our dessert. It has been the case since I was little.

I remember my eyes lighting up to see mom bring a plate full of mango and sweet melon slices. At the same moment mom's eyes would signal to finish the meal first if I wanted the fruits. Following in the footsteps of  my mom, I try to bribe my child also into finishing his meal to get his bite of juicy sweet mangoes. It works every time and Little M obliges as his plate is wiped off in minutes without any fuss. :-)

Recently, I had prepared custard and saw a few cake slices lying around so I thought of making my very own Mango Custard Parfait which was a hit with both the boys - Little M and M. Later on Little M also helped me arrange the parfait by layering it with homemade chocolate cake, custard, fresh mango chunks and pomegranate pearls. Creating a parfait is easy and can be done in so many different ways. There are no rules in this game, it only gets better and tastier with more layers and more fruits.

This time, see how Little M and I assemble our glass jars with this yummy Mango Cream. Mango Cream is nothing but mango and cream.

It is so yummy and a great chilled dessert to pamper your family or guests with on hot summer days. Rest assured this one is totally fuss-free and gets ready in under 15 min. Make it at least 3-4 hours before serving as it tastes best once chilled and needs to be chilled in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

See how Little M created his own parfait after I showed him by arranging one glass. You too can make this simple dessert with your children, just make sure to keep the pulp-cream mixture ready and mango chunks chopped before you invite kids into the kitchen.

Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:

2 Mangoes, pulped (or about 1 cup mango pulp)
1 cup Mango, diced
350 ml whipping cream (about 1 and 1/2 cup)
A pinch of cardomom powder
Sugar, as needed

Method:

1) Start by peeling and pulping mangoes in a blender. Keep aside.
2) Chop a mango into little chunks. Keep aside.
3) Taste your mango pulp, if its not sweet, add sugar to whipping cream and blend for 2 min.
4) Blend together half the amount of mango pulp with 3/4th of the whipped cream and cardamom powder. Leave the rest of the cream and pulp to create layers in the glass or if you do not wish to serve as a parfait blend the cream and mango pulp and serve in a bowl. Top it with mango chunks.

5) To make a parfait, take a jar/glass and using a spoon put in the mango chunks and then create layers with mango pulp-cream mix and then create another layer with cream or pulp and top it with mango chunks.
6) Slide the glasses into the refrigerator and serve chilled.

How did you like this fun dessert?

Do you like making something sweet with mangoes in summers just as I do?

Tell me how do you surprise your family by making mango-based desserts?

I'd love to read all your mango stories!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Fruit Custard

Fruit custard is one of my favourite summer desserts for the simple reason because it one of the desserts which is served chilled in the scorching summer and also because it is loaded with fresh fruit chunks.

I love vanilla essence, the flavour and fragrance of vanilla makes me go weak in the knees. Vanilla flavoured ice cream is my preference over chocolate ice cream any day. My love for vanilla is not limited to food. Though my kitchen is always stocked with either vanilla powder or essence, our home's living room shelf is always lined with vanilla scented candles. Let me also confess here that I am forever scouting supermarket aisles for Vanilla-scented body scrubs and lotions. Now you know why this girl can never ever say no to custard!

I am sharing here a simple recipe for making fruit custard which is served chilled in many homes in India during summers.

My mother has been making custard ever since I was small and I promised myself every time I ate my mom's fruit custard that this is one recipe I need to perfect.

It is one super simple, fuss-free dessert that will surely please guests and family alike after an afternoon brunch or lunch. Little M loves it even more when I throw in truck loads of chopped summer fruits such as sweet melon, mangoes and grapes.

Most of the times, the custard powder packaging mentions how to prepare custard and it is a good idea to take a look before proceeding. This is a basic custard recipe by my mom and now I too like to put it into use whenever I am making custard.

In this recipe I have used two fruits - mango and pomegranate, albeit I highly recommend as many adding fruits, that you or your children enjoy eating, to it.

The fruits that taste best in a custard apart from mango and pomegranate are - apples, pears (with the peels to lend it that crunch), and sweet melon, grapes. I prefer to not use orange or pineapple.

You may add chopped nuts and dry fruit, just like my mom. She never forgets to garnish her custard with loads of dry fruit and nuts, which I have not used in this recipe. She soaks the almonds overnight and peels them before chopping and adding to the custard. She also puts in chopped cashews and a handful of raisins.

Here is the recipe for making the fruit custard:

Prepping Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 10 min

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

2.5 cups milk
4-5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp custard powder
1-2 cups chopped mango
1 pomegranate, seeded

Method:

1) In a heavy-bottomed pan. heat milk.
2) While milk becomes heated, take 3 tbsp warm milk and add 2 tbsp custard powder to it. Mix well and ensure there are no lumps. Keep aside.
3) Add sugar to pan of milk and stir until sugar dissolves. Turn off the gas. After 2-3 min when the milk has slightly cooled (but not cold) add in the custard and milk paste that you prepared in parts. Keep on stirring to ensure there are no lumps and turn on the gas and keep on stirring the milk on low flame.
4) After a few minutes of stirring you'll notice the milk has thickened a little. Now turn of the gas and transfer to a glass/steel bowl and let it cool. After it has come to room temperature, put the bowl of custard in the fridge and chill for at least an hour.
5) Meanwhile, chop 3-4 mangoes (not too close too the seed) into cubes and remove the seeds of pomegranate. Cover chopped fruits with a cling film or a lid and put into the fridge.
6) Remember to add the fruits to the custard just before you serve. Serve chilled.

How did you find this recipe?

How do you like to eat or make your custard? Which fruits do you most commonly use?

Tell me all, I'd love to read what you think!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Atte Ka Halwa

Being a sweet dish, halwa is made on special occasions or festivals in most Indian households using different kinds of flour like suji (semolina) or atta (wholewheat flour) or mixing the two. When a new bride comes to her new home after marriage, she is expected to make a signature halwa dish and that is the way she makes it into the hearts of her in-laws. :-) 

It is fairly easy but still you need to be careful and keep stirring while roasting the flour in the ghee so that no lumps are formed.

Being a rich desert, it is eaten by topping it with chopped dry fruits or even by adding slightly roasted chopped dry fruits such as almonds, raisin, cashew while cooking. It is scooped in spoons and mostly eaten as it is. The better-half loves the epic puri-halwa combo wherein hot and velvety atte ka halwa or wholewheat sweet pudding is slathered on top of the soft poori and devoured slowly taking in the taste of halwa and poori in every bite. See the recipe to make hot and fluffy poori here.

The golden rule that I have learned and ingrained in my head for making Halwa as told by my wise mother is to always keep the ratio of flour:water as 1:4. For example, you are using 2 cups of flour, the water required to make it will be 8 cups.

Difficulty: Easy

Cooking Time: 20-25 min

Servings: 4-5

Ingredients:

1 cup wholewheat flour

1 cup ghee

Sugar 6-7 tbsp

4 cups water

Method:

1) In a wok, add flour and ghee. On a low flame, keep stirring until a roasted fragrance of flour can be sensed.

2) Once the flour looks roasted and brown (but not burnt), slowly add water while stirring continuously with the other hand to make sure no lumps are formed. Keep stirring and bring to a boil.

3) Add sugar and stir. Turn of the gas once the halwa has thickened to a semi-fluid smooth consistency. Garnish with chopped almonds or roasted dry fruits of your choice. Serve hot.

How do you make your Halwa? Please share your recipes with me. I'd love to know how you make it.

Thanks for reading! :-)