Mango & Coconut Cream Bowl
Ripe mango cubed over coconut cream beaten from the top of a chilled tin, with toasted coconut and cashews.
Why it works
A tin of full-fat coconut milk left overnight in the fridge separates into firm white cream on top and thin water beneath, and beating only that solid layer gives something that holds a spoon shape with no cream, sugar or setting agent. The water is not waste: it goes over the mango with the lime, so the fruit sits in coconut rather than its own juice.
Method
- Open the chilled tin without tipping it and spoon the thick cream off the top into a bowl, about 120 g (8 tbsp), stopping when you reach the clear water beneath.
- Add the honey, lime zest and salt and beat for a minute, until glossy and lifting in soft folds.
- Cut down either side of the flat stone to take off the two cheeks, score the flesh in a lattice down to the skin, then push the skin inside out and cut the cubes free. A ripe mango gives at the stem end.
- Divide the mango between four bowls and spoon over 2 tbsp of the reserved coconut water and the lime juice.
- Spoon the cream on top, scatter with coconut flakes, cashews and mint and serve, the cold cream against room-temperature fruit.
For the toddler
This one is nearly there as it is. Spoon a little of the coconut cream out at the start of step 2, before the honey and salt go in, since honey is not for a baby under one year old and ripe mango is sweet enough for both of you. Cut their mango into short strips rather than cubes, and keep the chopped cashews and coconut flakes off the bowl.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
No chilled tin: grate a 160 g block of creamed coconut and beat it with 5 tbsp warm water. Papaya or pineapple for the mango.
Frozen mango chunks, half-thawed, need no knife and stay cold in the bowl.
Strong black coffee, or a small glass of calamansi juice over ice.
The cream keeps 3 days chilled and stiffens; loosen it with the reserved water. Cut mango weeps, so store the two apart.