One of the worst parts of being a regular home cook and baker is the mountains of washing up that I produce…and seeing as I am not lucky enough to own a dishwasher I have to do it all by hand, which I hate…It is staggering how much washing up builds up so quickly when you have people round for dinner, and the last thing that you want to do after an enjoyable dinner party is piles of washing up.
So for those of you who are luckier than me and own a dishwasher, Finish are giving away a bundle of dishwasher products worth £25 to help keep your dishwasher in tip top condition especially in hard water areas; simply complete the Gleam widget at the bottom of this post to win. *CLOSED*
Finish asked me to imagine my ultimate dinner party – who I would invite, what we would eat etc. I thought long and hard about who my ideal guests would be, it was tough to narrow the list down!
There were quite a few contenders, but as I think that the best dinner parties have a fairly small number of guests I decided to limit myself to four (plus myself and Damian). Firstly, it has to be George RR Martin, because I am very impatiently waiting for the next book to be released and I have SO MANY QUESTIONS!
Secondly, Sue Perkins, I really like her personality and she seems like a good laugh; also, I bet she has some brilliant stories from backstage at The Great British Bake Off.
Thirdly, Neil Gaiman, I love his writing and am very excited that American Gods is going to be adapted into a TV show. And lastly Trevor Noah as he is funny and smart and I like a good mix of intelligent and entertaining conversation. (What does it say about me that all of my guests are either authors or comedians?).
On to the most important bit – the food. I prefer a slightly more informal, help yourself style of dining so to start I would just have a selection of home made breads and dips with olives and nibbles.
The main course would be something along the lines of fajitas or koftas with a selection of toppings so everyone can just build their own. For dessert, I prefer something fairly light, sweet enough to satisfy, but not so heavy and filling that it leaves you feeling overly full and unable to carry on drinking (because what’s a dinner party without plenty of booze?!).
It also needs to be something that can be made in advance, because when you’ve got guests round you don’t want to have to do too much cooking while they are there (and you are probably a little bit tipsy…or at least I usually am…).
I would serve these light, tropical mango, coconut & passion fruit mousse verrines. They are delicious, creamy and smooth; the tropical flavours are perfect for Summer and they wont weigh you down.
The bottom layer is a creamy coconut bavarois, topped with mango mousse and finally a layer of passion fruit gelée which adds a nice fruity tang. They can be prepared up to a couple of days in advance, and although there are several steps, they are very easy to make and there are no complicated processes involved.
Mango, Coconut & Passion Fruit Mousse Verrines
Ingredients
Coconut Bavarois
- 2 sheets leaf gelatin
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) coconut milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) whipping cream
Mango Mousse
- 2 sheets leaf gelatin
- 1 large mango
- 50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) whipping cream
Passion Fruit Gelée
- 1 sheet leaf gelatin
- 6 passion fruit
- 30 g (2 + 1/2 tbsp) caster sugar
Instructions
Coconut Bavarois
- Place the gelatin leaves in a bowl of cold water, make sure that they are fully submerged.
- Heat the coconut milk in a small pan until just coming up to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until pale. Gradually pour the hot coconut milk a little at a time into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.
- Return the mixture to the pan and place over a low heat. Stir constantly until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, do not let it boil. Remove from the heat, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin leaves and add them to the coconut custard. Stir until they have dissolved then transfer the custard to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until it has cooled but not set.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form then fold in the cooled custard. Divide the mixture between your glasses (or jam jars), cover, and place in the fridge for a couple of hours until set.
Mango Mousse
- Once the coconut bavarois has set, place the gelatin in a bowl of cold water as above. Peel and de-stone the mango and place the flesh in a food processor. Blitz until it forms a puree; pass the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, spend a good few minutes scraping it through to get as much puree as possible, there should only be a spoonful or so left that wont go through the sieve.
- Weigh your puree, there should be about 150 grams (5 + 1/3 oz). Place the puree in a small saucepan with the sugar, heat until the sugar has dissolved and the puree is hot. Remove from the heat, squeeze out the gelatin and stir it into the puree until it has dissolved. Place the puree in the fridge until it has cooled but not set.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form then fold in the cooled puree, divide the mousse between the glasses on top of the coconut layer. Return to the fridge for a couple of hours until set.
Passion Fruit Gelée
- Once the mango mousse has set, place the sheet of gelatin in a bowl of cold water. Halve the passion fruit and place the flesh in a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl or jug. Press the flesh through the sieve, take your time scraping it through to extract as much juice as possible; discard the seeds.
- Measure how much juice you have and add enough water to bring it up to 120ml (1/2 cup). Place the juice in a small pan with the sugar and heat until the sugar has dissolved and the juice is hot (not boiling). Squeeze out the gelatin, add it to the pan and stir until dissolved.
- Refrigerate the juice until it has cooled but not set, then divide it between the glasses on top of the mango mousse. Return the glasses to the fridge for a couple more hours until set.
- The verrines can be prepared up to a couple of days in advance. Keep refrigerated.
Notes
I am sharing these with Friday Features, Fabulous Foodie Fridays, Foodie Fridiy, Foodie Friends Friday and Friday Favourites
Jemma Chambers
erm, yes! These look just the thing for when we have friends round for dinner. Book marking – thanks!! #twinklytuesday
hannahhossack
Thanks Jemma 🙂
Girl and the Kitchen
OMG this looks lovely! I absolutely adore anything passion fruity so this speaks miles to me 🙂 And you don’t have a dishwasher? You poor thing!
hannahhossack
Ha ha! I know…we don’t have room for one, but I create soo much washing up! 🙁
Kate - gluten free alchemist
The dishwasher revolutionised my kitchen….. You need one Hannah!!
The dessert looks divine…….. And my least favourite thing to wash up? I hate washing anything, but worst of all is the dish that you have roasted potatoes in!
hannahhossack
If only I had room for one!
Honest Mum
They are just gorgeous! My husband loves passion fruit so will make these for him. Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
hannahhossack
Passion fruit is one of my absolute favourites, we used to have a sort of key lime pie but made with passion fruit when I was a child so it is a very nostalgic flavour for me 🙂 x
Sandra Bald
Pans that I’ve used to make any kind of cheese sauce are my least favourite item to wash up!
Dani @ House in Tillford
What a cute dessert! Love pretty individual desserts
Julie @ Running in a Skirt
This looks amazing!!!!! I spent time in Brazil earlier this year and ate my body weight in passion fruit moose! Love the idea of recreating it.
hannahhossack
Lucky you! I’d love to visit Brazil! 🙂
Joan Kubes
My least favorite is a casarole dish.
Lauren @ Create Bake Make
Washing up really is the worst isn’t it? This looks like the perfect dessert to serve at a dinner party, especially as it contains three of my favourite things! Thank you for linking up with us for Fabulous Foodie Fridays, I hope you have a great weekend.
hannahhossack
Thanks Lauren 🙂 There’s always so much washing up to do, it’s astonishing how quickly it builds up! Have a lovely weekend!
sandyhills x
I would have to say a crockpot – shaunie
Mobile App Developers
Amazing blog and very interesting stuff you got here! I definitely learned a lot from reading through some of your earlier posts as well and decided to drop a comment on this one!
Yaële
It tastes delicious! Fortunately for us, mango and passion are everywhere and very cheap. My most expensive item was the cream… my kids loved it so much, I’ve made it twice in a week! And I don’t have a dishwater anymore either!
Juliana
Hi!
How many packets of powder gelatin should I use instead of the 2 sheets of gelatin? Thank you.
hannahhossack
Hi Juliana, converting between leaf and powdered gelatin is extremely difficult as the strength varies across brands and they are bloomed in different ways so it is always best to use the same type as specified in the recipe; if you are able to get hold of leaf gelatin then I would recommend that you do so. In order to convert between the two you will need to check the packet and probably do some maths! For the equivalent of 2 sheets, you will need enough powder to set 285ml of liquid (about 1 cup + 3tbsp) and you will need to follow the instructions on the packet for how to bloom it. This article has some more information: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/how-to-use-gelatin/ I hope that helps!
Kristina
Hi,
what gelatin did you use? Silver?
hannahhossack
Hi Kristina, I used platinum grade gelatin.