Champagne Mango Custard Tart

Author Notes

Of all the memories of days past that involved mangoes, two incidents stand out in stark detail. The first harks back to the mid seventies when my dad had ordered 2 'tokris' (large baskets the size of tyres) of Ratnagiri Alphonso mangoes direct from the farm. En route home from picking them up, the bus we were traveling in, collided with another vehicle, but luckily, no one got hurt. What I still remember was the explicit relief that the mangoes were safe and did not scatter away or get damaged. Talk about priorities when you're five years old!

The second was when a group of us friends from Hostel 10 at the Indian Institute of Technology decided to pick a 10 gallon sized bucket's worth of the tartest, unripe mangoes from the trees that were practically sprouting branches through our room windows. At the end of the day there was a wingful of 20 year old girls with horribly zinging sensitive teeth and about 1/2 a pound of Salt/chili powder mix, not to mention the insane amount of raw mangoes wreaking havoc on our digestive system.
What I wouldn't to relive that incident all over again!

Well, those days of juggling a schedule of choosing from about a dozen mango cultivars making their sequential entrance at the market are long gone, and these days, its a choice between either the fibrous, tasteless Tommy Atkins & Hadens, or the delicious golden Champagne or Ataulfo mango, imported from Mexico.

Old habits die hard and I still can never buy just one or two mangoes. It always HAS to be by the box. The first box disappears in about three days, but then the time lag increases. By the time the third box arrives on the kitchen counter, it takes about a week to get polished off, & the mangoes start shriveling up. But, the level of sugars & the creamy texture in those late stragglers make them perfect for pies & tarts.

I've always been kind of weary when dealing with baked desserts, more so when the recipe involves a separate crust. This was my first attempt at winging the recipe taking notes about what I added as I prepared the dish. Needless to add, I'll be making this many many more times before the mango season comes to an end! The Custard is egg free and relies on the addition of cornflour to thicken the cream & mango. —Panfusine