Mango Fool / Mango Parfait with Cardamom Whipped Cream and Saffron

A perfectly delicious summer treat with of mango parfait with saffron and cardamom scented whipped cream. Serve this at your next party and your guests will rave about this for years to come.

Mango is so very rightly called the King of Fruits, no other fruit can rival it. Every time I see mango in the stores here, I am reminded of Indian summers. The variety of mangoes available in the markets, the fragrance of those mangoes, you just cannot see it anywhere else. What I miss most about the mangoes here is their sweet fragrance. How mangoes are bought in India is by seeing how sweetly they smelt and the mangoes here in the US just do not seem to have that and buying mangoes here is always a gamble. You might luck out with a sweet bunch and sometimes not so sweet ones. The sweet Champagne (Ataulfo) mangoes are some of the better ones I have seen around here.

I was wondering what I should name this recipe, Mango Fool or Mango Parfait. A fool is essentially a fruit puree that is mixed with whipped cream and a parfait is layers of fruit puree or fruit chunks with yogurt. This recipe is kind of a mix of the two so I am calling it both. I love this combination of Mangoes and Cardamom scented whipped cream. I love the flavor of cardamom with mangoes and the whipped cream gives it some sort of a lightness.

Mango Fool / Mango Parfait with Cardamom Whipped Cream and Saffron – The Recipe

Ingredients:

• Champagne mangoes – 3
• Bakers sugar – 6 tbsps or as needed, divided
• Heavy whipping cream, chilled – 1 ½ cups
• Cardamom, powdered – ¼ tsp
• Saffron – a pinch
• Milk – 1 tbsp
• Lime zest – ½ tsp

Method:

Peel the mangoes, cut them and puree in a blender. Add some of the sugar if the mangoes are not very sweet or if you need them to be more sweet.

Beat the cream till it is thick and creamy and add about 3 tbsp of sugar to it, the cardamom and the saffron with milk (warm the milk a little and add the saffron to it and let it soak/dissolve a little). Add the lime zest also to this. Whip the cream a little more and keep aside.

Now, layer your serving cups/bowls alternating the mango and the cream mix, starting and ending with the mango layer. Top with a little cream and sprinkle some saffron on top. If you saved up some mango pieces before pureeing, garnish with some of those too.

Serve immediately or if you are serving later, refrigerate till ready to serve.