Fresh Mango Ice Cream Recipe with Sake Sauce and Ginger

I’m a severe sugar fiend. I cannot and will not go a day without dessert. That said, I also try to watch my diet so choosing smart desserts is important.

One thing I miss dearly about Hong Kong is the abundance of fresh mangoes all year round. The mangoes are usually from the Philippines and are always fully ripened, juicy, sugary and smooth (not fibrous). Since mangoes are so fragrant and sweet, they make the perfect healthy dessert ingredient and innovative HK dessert chefs come up with countless innovative ways to utilize this fruit.

Whenever I visit, I make sure to consume all the mango desserts my tummy can hold. (I will post a gallery of mango desserts from HK soon.)

Unfortunately, mango season is quite short in Vancouver so when they are in season, I devour boxes of them. I eat them for breakfast with oatmeal, cubed and mixed with cereal or yogurt for snack, in smoothies, straight up, frozen… you name it. As you can see, I’m passionate (if not obsessed) with mangoes. Although I’m not as talented as the mango dessertiers in HK, I will share my beloved mango dessert recipe with you to celebrate this joyous mango season.

This dessert pairs fresh mango ice cream with a light Sake sauce. The ice cream has a hint of sour cream to fully bring forth the mango’s freshness and the Sake adds an earthy, aromatic complexity to the dessert. Crystallized ginger’s mild heat compliments mangoes superbly and a simple mango coulis adds even more vibrance to the dish. I would be heartbroken if you made this dessert without making this ice cream from scratch but I know it is not always possible so go ahead, but please use the best REAL mango ice cream you can find. I hope you will enjoy this as much as my friends and I did.

Ingredients:

Mango Ice Cream
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

flesh of 3 large, fully ripened mangoes, diced
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
small pinch of sea salt

Mango Coulis

flesh of 1/2 mango, diced
1 tsp raw honey

Sake Sauce

1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup Sake
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp corn starch

Garnish

2 tbs sour cream (filled into a small zip top bag)
Several pieces of crystallized ginger diced finely
Several slivers of mango, frozen

Directions:

Mango Ice Cream

Bring mangoes to a simmer in a sauce pan and cook for about a minute and a half, add sugar, and stir just until the sugar dissolves. Let the mixture cool to room temperature or speed up the cooling process in the fridge.

When cooled, add the mango mixture and the rest of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain into a metal bowl over an ice bath. Stir to speed up the chilling process and let chill completely in the fridge.

Freeze and finish the ice cream according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Mango Coulis

Blend ingredients together in a blender, strain, and fill it into a zip top bag. Reserve in fridge.

Sake Sauce

Thoroughly combine milk, sugar, and corn starch. Heat mixture in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens and looks just about to “bubble”. Do not allow it to boil. Remove from heat, strain, add Sake, and chill mixture in a bowl over an ice bath. Chill completely in the fridge.

Plating:

Pour 1/4 of the Sake sauce into the center of a chilled bowl, tip bowl to spread mixture out. Place a scoop of mango ice cream onto the center. Optional: press the ice cream into a plastic wrap-lined mould first for a cleaner presentation.

Cut a tiny corner off the bag containing the sour cream. Dot the ice cream with it. Repeat with the mango coulis over the Sake sauce.

Garnish the ice cream with several slivers of frozen mango and the diced crystallized ginger.

Serves 4 mango lovers

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