Ingredients
2 cups/475 ml ripe mango purée, chilled
2 cups/475 ml plain unsweetened kefir or buttermilk, chilled
1 cup/200 g superfine sugar
4 oz/115 g plain full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
Instructions
- Place the mango, kefir, sugar, and cream cheese in a blender and pulse until smooth. There should be no visible lumps of cream cheese, and the sugar should be completely dissolved.
- Transfer the liquid to an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the mixture firms up, transfer to a freezer-safe container, press a sheet of parchment paper on the surface, cover with a lid and freeze for at least 6 hours until firm. If the ice cream becomes very hard, leave it out on the kitchen counter for 15 to 20 minutes to soften before serving. This ice cream can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.
- NOTE: If you don’t own an ice cream maker, freeze the mixture in a shallow non-reactive metal pan (a loaf pan or an 8 in/20 cm square baking pan will work). Cover with cling wrap. Freeze the mixture for 2 hours or until it begins to firm up. Remove from the freezer, unwrap, and crush the ice crystals using a fork or immersion blender. Alternatively, transfer to a blender or food processor and pulse to break the ice crystals. Cover with the cling wrap and refreeze. Repeat three to four times at 30 minutes intervals until the mixture turns soft but frozen. Freezing times will vary depending on the refrigerator.
Notes
- Start with chilled ingredients. Blending introduces a small degree of frictional heat, and pre-chilling the ingredients helps reduce the warming of the mixture and helps with faster ice cream making.
- You can use either ripe mango pulp, frozen puréed mango pulp, or canned mango pulp (the Indian brands like 24 Mantra Organic are already puréed but, for some reason, labeled pulp). Whatever mango you use, Indian or otherwise, it should be ripe, bright yellow, and sweet.
- I’ve used 1% and 3.35% plain kefir (Lifeway brand) to make this ice cream, producing spectacular results. Buttermilk is also good here, but these days kefir is easier to find than a bottle of buttermilk.
- If you use fresh mangoes and their flavor isn’t the best, add ¼ tsp ground green cardamom and ¼ tsp ground saffron. These spices will help amplify the flavor of the mango.
