Recipe 19: The Ice Cream That Never Was (Mango Ice Cream)

Monday, April 20, 2015

            Guys, I cannot make Mango Ice Cream.  I really, really can’t.  I’ve tried two separate recipes and wasted 10 mangos in the past week.  But I really just can’t make Mango Ice Cream.

            The initial recipe I tried came from Scoop Adventures: The Best Ice Cream of the 50 States by Lindsay Clendaniel.  I would not recommend this recipe.  Ms. Clendaniel forgot to include the step where you add the mango puree so I had to guess, and she recommended covering and refrigerating the base for two hours.  This was a horrible idea.  The mangos went really, really bad and tasted extremely overripe – there was almost no sugar or flavor.  The result tasted spoiled and went in the bin.

            Next I tried this recipe from Nami at Just One Cookbook.  I was initially very excited about it because the recipe was from people with a strong cultural heritage of using mango.  The original poster, Tina from Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner, grew up using mango in a lot of her local foods and knew how to use mangos in cooking.  I expected this recipe to go smoothly.

            Unfortunately, I’m probably using the wrong mangos, and I didn’t get fully ripe ones.  The taste started out much better than the first attempt but quickly became bitter and bland.  I’ve bought yet another batch of mangos to attempt this recipe and am letting them fully ripen.  I will probably not allow the base to chill but will immediately freeze it – that or follow the instructions of a few other recipes and freeze/blend the ice cream in mixtures.  And, if that doesn’t work, I’ll see if any of the Asian or international markets have Philippine mangos – apparently, they’re sweeter than South American, which is what I’ve been using (because they’re what we have).
            I’m really sorry about this, guys!  I’m really frustrated with this recipe and not quite sure if I’ll ever get it right.  If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears.  I would love to make a good Mango Ice Cream.  Mango is probably my favorite fruit, and I’ve had mango lassi and mango kulfi and absolutely loved them.  I really wish I could make some mango ice cream for myself and share it with all of you.  –frowns in disappointment-