Guest Post by Trissalicious: Grandma's Mango Cream Pie

I met Trissa only recently when she visited NYC for a few days this Spring. But, I have been familiar with her food and work for a long time. I had admired her writing style; straight from the heart, and her mouthwatering photos of her recipes (head over to her blog, Trissalicious, to see more of her wonderful work!) and was itching to met the person behind it all.

When I, finally, met her, she was just what I expected! Fun, chirpy, warm and happy! :) We clicked, just like that. Over the course of English Tea with her and Christine, I found out more about her, her love for cookbooks, her love for recreating novelle restaurant dishes and her love for New York (YAY!!). Those few hours we spent together weren't enough by any means but sufficient to form a bond across the seven seas that we live!

And now, without further ado, I give the stage to Trissa, who is sharing her grandmother's cherished Mango Cream Pie recipe with us! :)


The first time I met Asha I was inclined to hate her. Honestly. Here was this beautiful and extremely bright lady. I knew she could cook (and very well at that), she was well travelled (having even lived in Tokyo at one point in her life) and now was living in New York. She took great photos, had a fantastic eye for style and had a blog that I had admired for many months. So of course, you have to excuse me for being a little envious - she was living the life I'd dreamed of!

We spent an afternoon with Christine, another amazing blogger having a bite and a quaint coffee shop and then shopping at the Chelsea markets - chatting about food, life, and even more food! At the end of the afternoon I knew I had made friends for life.

How could I hate someone so charming? Not only that, her honest writing, fab food photos and truly unique recipes make her blog a pleasure to read. Well, maybe I can't ever have Asha's life, I know this is as close as I could possibly get.



It is an absolute honor to guest on Asha's blog. To celebrate this occasion I asked my Mom to give me my grandmother's Mango Cream Pie recipe. After all, we all know Asha loves mangoes (there is still a healthy debate going on as to whether Indian or Philippine mangoes are the best!). :)

Never before has this recipe been shared with anyone. My grandmother was widowed at a very young age with six children to feed. Before she opened her restaurant, she made her livelihood selling cakes and this Mango Cream Pie was the most requested of all the ones she made. My Mom said this is the recipe that put them through school. I asked my Mom if I could give Asha the recipe for her to post this on her blog - I explained I needed a really special recipe and she suggested this one.

So Asha - here it is - the Mango Cream Pie to beat all the other mango cream pies out there. And, by the way, if you use peaches, then it becomes the Peach Cream Pie to beat all the other peach cream pies...



MANGO CREAM PIE

Crust
1 cup (225 grams) butter, cold and diced
2 ¼ cups (285 grams) flour
½ cup (113 grams) sugar
3 egg yolks

Mango Cream
1 cup (250 ml) cream
l/4 cup (31 grams) icing/powdered sugar
l tsp. vanilla
4 to 5 mangoes, peeled and cut into chunks (peaches are a great alternative too)

Meringue Topping
3 Egg whites
1/4 cup (31 grams) icing/powdered sugar
1/4 cup (113 grams) sugar
1/4 cup (57 grams) water

Place the flour, butter, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the dough resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolks and continue to pulse. Don’t blend the pastry too much. Stop just before it seems like it is coming together like a ball on the blender blades.

Place the dough in a lightly floured work bench and knead the dough one or two times just until you can form a disc with the dough. Pat it down until it is around 1 cm high. Wrap in cling wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour to overnight.

When the dough is ready, roll it out on a floured work surface until it is around ½ cm thick. Place the rolled out dough on the tart mold and allow to rest another hour. Then cover with parchment paper and pie weights.

Bake in a pre-heated 180c (fan forced) oven for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the dough is golden. Allow the tart to cool.

For the mango cream, while the cream until semi soft peaks. Add the icing sugar and then beat again, but be careful not to over whip. Add the vanilla. Fold in the mango chunks and set aside.

For the meringue topping, beat the egg whites until semi soft peaks and then add the icing sugar. At the same time, place the regular sugar and water in a pan and heat the mixture until a candy thermometer registers 115 c (240 f). As you beat the egg whites, slowly add the sugar and beat until cold. (It's a good idea to use a stand mixer).

To Assemble:

Pour the mango cream onto the tart shell and top with the meringue mixture. Use a blow torch to burn the meringue until golden.