Mango Tarte Tatin with Coconut & Peanut Brittle
Andy Bates
Salvador! The biggest and busiest city in the northeast of Brazil, Salvador is known for its architecture, history, music and mind-blowing gastronomy. The locals pride themselves on using regional produce and there's a huge variety of natural products to choose. I met Mariana, who's got a huge knowledge of the local produce, but she is actually from the south of Brazil. She says that when she arrived in Salvador, they introduced her to a completely different world. Where the variety of fresh produce is almost overwhelming, from palm oil to green tomatoes, there is a lot more choices. The variety of local products together with a strong African influence makes the food of Bahia utterly special. One of the ever present products is coconut and the Bahia state is the biggest consumer of coconut in all of Brazil. I was then taken to try Cocada - A sweet coconut snack made with condensed milk. The Brazilians like their treats sweet and everyone seems to have a sweet tooth!
The coconut and it's flavours have inspired this dessert and with the abundance of mango juice in Brasil I just had to incorporate their flavour into this dish. The crunchiness of the brittle works well with the soft mango and giving a real tropical kick to it too.
My Mango Tarte Tatin with coconut and peanut brittle
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE COCONUT BRITTLE:
- 150g caster sugar
- 50g salted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 25g dessicated coconut
FOR THE MANGO TARTE TATIN:
- 150g caster sugar
- 50g unsalted butter
- 2 mangos, peeled and cut into thick wedges
- 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or a silicone sheet. Pour the sugar into a heavy-based, non-stick frying pan and set over a medium heat. Gently tilt and swirl the pan (do not stir) until the sugar has melted and turns a deep caramel colour.
Add the peanuts and coconut and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the lined tray and leave to cool. When cool, break into shards and set aside.
For the mango tart, unroll the pastry and cut out a circle the same diameter as the pan you’re going to use. Heat the sugar and butter in a 20cm non-stick frying pan until the sugar has melted and turned a deep caramel colour.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Add the mango wedges and shake gently until they start to caramelise. Remove from the heat then lay the pastry over the top.
Bake for 20 minutes until the pastry in risen and golden. Leave to cool slightly then turn out onto a plate. Serve the mango tart topped with shards of the brittle.