Dietitian-n-da-Kitchen: ASIAN FUSION! TGIF: Mango Ice Cream

Happy Friday! To welcome the warm weather season, I thought ice cream would be perfect! I admittedly had a lot of difficulty coming up with an oriental dessert for today. Most of what my mind went to was rice pudding and those fried doughnut things that sit on a Chinese buffet. However...I started google-ing, of course, and recipes for mango flavored Oriental desserts started appearing. It sparked a memory of some mango ice cream that I had once tried at a Thai restaurant and LOVED. I found a recipe and tweaked it a little and was really happy with the result. It`s not the healthiest, but the flavor is so different that you don`t want a whole lot at one time! Just a scoop was enough for me.

Mango Ice Cream

2 cups fresh mango, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups skim milk

1 tsp vanilla

nutmeg and cinnamon to taste

Combine the fruit and half the sugar and refrigerate overnight.

Drain the mango and puree it in a food processor until smooth. Then, add it back to the sugary liquid.

Heat cream and half and half over medium until it simmers. Stir for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and the vanilla. Spring nutmeg and cinnamon to your liking and stir.

Pour over mango puree and sugar syrup.

Using a mixer, beat until frothy.

Cover and freeze. Check after an hour and continue checking until mixture is partially frozen. Beat again with a mixer and return to freezer. After the ice cream has solidified it is ready to serve. Scoop into ramekins and garnish with mint or basil leaves.