It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That is, it’s mango season! Specifically champagne/ataúlfo mango season. We might be able to find mangoes year round in most parts of the United States, but it’s typically the larger red and green skinned varieties which tend to be less sweet and more fibrous. Ataúlfo mangoes on the other hand are beautifully golden hued on the inside and out, they border on too sweet with the most delicate buttery flesh. I’m smitten, usually skipping whole meals just so I can stuff more mangoes into my belly. And I love that in season also means well priced, and I can often buy whole cases of them for less than $1/mango. This means I regularly find myself with some 18 ripe mangoes that need to be finished within days of each other. Challenge accepted! Again, and again, and again, at least until the season is over and I have to bide my time until next year. Does my love of mangoes come from my cultural heritage? Maybe. Growing up in the Midwest in the 90s, we didn’t have many options for having mangoes. But every so often a severely underripe mango or two would make there way onto the shelves of our local grocery store only to be snatched up immediately by my dad. We’d stick them in a paper bag next to the bananas to try and get as much ripening out of them as possible. Once you could catch whiffs of that sweet mango nectar from the stem we’d cut into them and divide them up between us. Even our dog would get his share, chewing off whatever was left from the pit [I do not recommend you let your dog chew on the pit, as it’s a possible choking hazard]. The mangoes we’d get in those days were usually lacking in flavor and would be so fibrous that we’d be left with strings of fruit in our teeth. But nothing could beat my dad’s excitement for a taste of his childhood in Sindh, surrounded with mango trees and what he says were the best mangoes in the entire world.
I am so glad that those champagne mangoes have exploded in popularity across the US, because mangoes are my favorite things. And while I love eating them plain, they also make the best desserts. Like these seriously adorable mango tarts, with juicy fruit, a buttery shortbread crust, and lusciously silky vanilla pastry cream. I love making them into individually sized tartlets as it’s the perfect presentation, but it’s also stunning when made into one full sized tart. The base for these tarts is a shortbread pastry crust. It’s a crumbly and cookie-like pastry, and super easy to make. The fat is rubbed into the flour to coat the grain which makes for the most tender of crusts, as this prevents gluten networks from forming. A little powdered sugar sweetens the base slightly and acts to tenderize the pastry further. With this method, little to no water is needed to form the dough. Once the dough holds together nicely when squeezed it can be pressed into the tart shells. No rolling required! I place strips of parchment paper underneath the tart dough as my tartlet shells do not have removable bottoms and this way I can easily remove the tart shells after baking. The tart shells are blind baked, which means they’re baked until done before filling with the pastry cream. To blind bake the bottoms are pricked to help the tart shells keep their shape and then topped with a piece of parchment paper which is weighted down with either pie weights or dried beans or dried rice. The shells are baked until set, then the weights and parchment are removed so the tarts can fully bake and set. We don’t want to have any soggy bottoms!
The pastry cream is made from a mixture of cashews and coconut cream and sweetened with maple syrup or agave and subtly flavored with a splash of vanilla extract. A little squeeze of lemon juice helps cut through the sweetness to keep the tart from being cloying while a pinch of salt enhances the flavor. Refined coconut oil helps the pastry cream thicken when cooled. The cashews are soaked so they’re able to blend up extra smooth and silky along with the rest of the ingredients. The pastry cream can then be poured into the baked and cooled tart shells. It’s pretty runny at this point, but will thicken as it cools in the fridge. Pro-tip: Any leftover pastry cream can be spooned over fresh fruit (like more mangoes!), and enjoyed for a delicious special fruit treat. Once the pastry cream is thickened enough to support the weight of the mango, slice up your mango and shape into a rose or layer the slices as desired to decorate the tart. Here’s a handy video of how to make a mango rose if you’re more of a visual learner. These tarts are quite easy to make, and when well sealed and stored in the refrigerator they can be made up to a day in advance. You can continue to eat them for up to 3 days after they’re made (as long as your mango wasn’t overly ripe), but the mangoes will start to brown a little. I do hope you are enjoying spring so far, if not the weather, then at least the fresh produce that’s started to pop up! And I hope you love these tartlets as much as we did! Let me know if you make them! Comment and rate the recipe below and tag recreations @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea on Instagram, or share with me on Facebook! And for more mango inspiration, I highly recommend that you sip on some cool mango lassi’s while you make these tarts!
Notes:
Use ripe mangoes to top these tartlets. They should feel firm if gently squeezed but not too soft or mushy. You should be able to smell the mango scent from the stem even better if it’s leaking a little sticky juice from the top, and if the skins a little wrinkly (if using champagne/ataúlfo mangoes) that’s just fine! Be careful cutting the mangoes after they’ve been peeled, they’re quite slippery!
*Pour boiling water over the cashews and let soak for 2 hours at room temperature. Alternatively, cover the cashews with cold water and place in fridge for 8 hours. *If the coconut milk is an emulsified liquid, use only 1/2 cup coconut milk and increase the coconut oil to 1/2 cup.
