Chestnut and mango tarts
Today I'm sharing one of my favorite desserts that I always make in autumn: these chestnut and mango tarts. I make them as soon as chestnuts start appearing in our markets, and whenever possible, I prefer to buy Galician chestnuts because of their flesh, their flavor, and because they're so beautiful.
Ingredients · Servings 4
- 1 beautiful sobao or a piece of sponge cake
- Muscatel
- ½ kg of good quality chestnuts
- 2 teaspoons of good quality butter
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 mango
Method · 30 min
- Leave the sobao wrapped in clear plastic for a few days: it will become hard but manageable —it's easier to work with for what we want to do, otherwise it crumbles a lot—
- Cut the sobao into 4 parts lengthwise with the help of a sharp knife.
- Put some Moscatel —or the liquor you like best— in a deep dish to soak the pieces of sobao.
- Soak the pieces of sobao in the Moscatel and transfer them to a piece of aluminum foil that will serve as a base.
- Place a square or round plating mold, greased with a little butter, on top of the sobao pieces and press firmly to cut them. Remove the edges. Set aside.
- Peel the chestnuts—just the shells—and cook them in a saucepan for about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat when they're cooked. While they're in the warm water, the skin comes off quite easily; if you drain them, it's more difficult. Roughly break them into pieces with your hands, so they're not too small.
- Put 2 teaspoons of butter in a non-stick frying pan and when it's melted—be careful not to burn it, otherwise the chestnuts won't look nice—add the chestnuts and turn them over. Near the end, when they're slightly golden, add a little sugar on top and leave for a few minutes over low heat, until you see that the sugar has melted. Remove from the pan.
- Place this second layer inside the plating ring, pressing firmly with your finger to compact it so that it does not crumble when you lift the mold.
- Peel the mango.
- Brush a non-stick frying pan with a little butter—a different one; we can't continue using the same pan we used for the chestnuts, because the fruit would darken quickly due to the butter and sugar residue. Briefly cook the mango slices in the pan. One minute will be enough. Arrange the mango slices as the final layer of our tart.
Chestnut and mango tarts.
You will need
- Plating ring
I hope that if you make them, you'll enjoy them, or if you serve them to a guest, that they'll be amazed by the delicious mix of flavors... and with so little effort on our part!
