I had a really lucky childhood. We never really went without anything. At five, I was plucked out of rural Ireland and plonked into the paradise of bicentennial suburban Australia. It was a dream world.
The concrete was hot, the kids were barefooted, the supermarkets sold mysterious fruits and veggies and for some strange reason, you had to shake your shoes before you put them on.
I’ll never forget our first Christmas in Australia. We had been here for almost a year, ‘Love Shack’ (on vinyl) played in the background and we ate croissants and mangos for breakfast. The weeks before had been full of brown skin, late night swims, thick summer air, the crinkle of wrapping paper and, flour sprinkled on the round wooden table in our kitchen.
The smell of mango always brings me straight back to those childhood Christmases and that’s the inspiration behind this super simple coconut mango tart. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.
Coconut Mango Tart Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cups plain flour
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- 125g of grated butter
Filling
- 4 mangoes, peeled, deseeded (or 3 cups frozen mango chunks, defrosted)
- 400ml coconut milk
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar
- zest of one lemon
- 2 tbsp powdered gelatin
Instructions
1. Blend plain flour, brown sugar and grated butter in a stand mixer and pulse until it looks like bread crumbs. Anyone in colder climates may be confused by 'grated butter' but believe me, ‘room temperature’ butter (which most recipes call for) is basically just a puddle during an Aussie Christmas. Trust me and grate it straight out of the fridge.
2. Press into a springform pie or cake tin and bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
3. Mix the mango flesh with coconut milk, 2 tbsps of brown sugar and lemon zest. Mix together with a stick blender until smooth.
4. Ladle out about a cup of the mixture into a mug and microwave it until it is hot but not boiling.
5. Stir in powdered gelatin until it dissolves and add it back into the mix before blending the whole lot again for a few minutes.
6. Pour it into your baked shell and let it set in the fridge, covered, for three hours or overnight.
7. When you're ready to serve it, top it with either fresh or frozen raspberries.
8. To be eaten cold with a glass of bubbles in one hand and a paper crown on your head.
Merry Christmas Lovers.
Seriously, that thing look so good you could almost convince me to eat it. I’m not a fan of mango, but if you sat that down in front of me I would definitely give it a go!!!
You don’t like mango? I thought we were friends. One day I plan to sit this down in front of you xoxo