Mango ice cream

Earlier this summer my husband and I drove into Cambridge on a Saturday afternoon to catch a film. Afterwards, we were vaguely hungry, but not knowing for what, we prowled the neighborhood. We found ourselves in Inman Square at East Coast Grill, where we were told there’d be a half-hour wait. No thanks. So we stepped out onto Cambridge Street and there was Christina‘s and suddenly I had to have an ice cream. My husband wasn’t too hungry, so he said to go ahead (he doesn’t eat ice cream … yeah, can you believe it?) and he’d wait to get something at home.

I got a small dish of mango ice cream. It was perfect. Creamy, a pale chiffony yellow, and the right balance of sweet and tropical. In the late afternoon heat, we wandered down Cambridge Street past the Brazilian churrascarias and Portuguese social clubs, then turned toward MIT and Kendall Square when I was done scraping out my bowl. “I have to make mango ice cream when I get home,” I said. My husband smiled. He’s heard this all before.

It took me a couple months, but here it is. Not quite like Christina’s, but damn good — even if only got around to it after the summer weather turned.

Mango Ice Cream
Yield: 1 quart

The flavor of mango here is subtle, tantalizing — your guests may even find it difficult to place the flavor. If you’re looking for more mango flavor, try a mango sorbet. Here, because of the cream and vanilla, you just get a whisper of the tropical fruit. Of course you can use fresh fruit — it’s just that good frozen mango is easier for me to source.

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out and reserved
16-oz. frozen mango cubes, slightly thawed
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
6 egg yolks

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk, cream, and sugar until just about to boil. This will take about 5 or 6 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add scraped-out vanilla pods and seeds. Let sit for 10 minutes to steep.

In a heavy-duty blender or food processor, puree the slightly thawed mango until perfectly smooth. Stir in the lemon juice and set fruit aside.

In a small bowl, stir the egg yolks together. Then take about a cup of the hot milk/cream and stir it into the eggs quickly. This tempers them so that when you add the yolks to the cream/milk on the stove, they don’t curdle. Ok, now slowly stir the tempered eggs into the hot cream mixture.

Turn the heat under the saucepan to medium and stir the mixture until it starts to coat the back of your spoon (or spatula). Do not stop stirring, or else you chance your ice cream base turning into scrambled mango-flavored eggs. If you’re unsure of what the base should look like on your spoon, attach a digital thermometer to the side of the pan, and stir/cook until the mixture hits 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Stir in the mango mixture.

Place a fine-mesh strainer over a clean bowl and pour the base into the strainer. This will get rid of any stray bits of cooked egg or mango fiber. Pick out the vanilla pod from the strainer and when cool enough to handle, rinse and set aside to dry. Stick the used pod in some sugar to make vanilla sugar; or cut it up and add it to a bottle of vanilla.

If you’re meticulous about food safety, chill the ice cream base in an ice bath. I’m not religious about this, so what I usually do is cover the surface of the ice cream base with plastic wrap and stick the bowl in the bottom half of the fridge overnight. I haven’t lost anyone yet, knock wood.

Process the mixture according to your ice cream maker’s directions.