It's mango season: prepare for Aussie gold rush

It’s the gold that defines Australia – that delicious, sweet, juicy gold of a perfect mango on a hot day.  So, if you feel like rich, ripe mangoes are missing in your life, then relax because they are arriving with all the flavour of a North Queensland sunset.

Harris Farm Markets have been working with mango growers for decades, and while ripe mangoes are a little late this year because of the colder, wetter season, they are full of flavour – with co-CEO Tristan Harris reminding fans that the longer the fruit stay on the tree the more flavour they develop.

“Tree ripened mangoes are worth the wait. Every moment on the tree means more sugar development resulting in more flavour and nutrients; we don’t pick immature mangoes, we let Mother Nature tell us when to harvest. And our tip is, prepare for a Queensland gold rush!” Tristan said.

“What’s more, we take every fruit from our farmers’ tree, not just the largest or prettiest. We want to do the right thing by farmers, plus offer our customers options, and be gentle on the planet. Mango lovers can now choose the most beautiful fruit, or they can opt for our *Imperfect Picks (smaller or slightly marked fruit) and pay a little less – no one eats the skin anyway.”

 “Right now, our stores are full of delicious Kensington Pride (KPs) and R2E2s. Later in the season we’ll focus on Honey Golds.”

The family owned and operated Harris Farm Markets is home to more than 500 lines of fruit and veg, a gourmet grocery section of boutique local products, an extensive deli, more than 400 cheeses, a butcher and fish market and bakery, pour your own milk from Queensland’s multi-award-winning Maleny Dairy or Barambah Organics milk, BioSota Honey on tap and make-your-own Nut Butters among a myriad of flavour-filled treats.  For 50 years they have delivering goodness to Australian families.

And here is a mango recipe for those mango lovers out there! 

DELICIOUS MANGO LAMINGTONS

Makes: 25 pieces
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 200g caster sugar
• 200g self raising flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ cup cornflour
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
• 150g unsalted butter 
• 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup milk (at room temperature)
• zest of 1 lemon

Glaze:

• 400g mango flesh 
• 100g icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons cream cheese
• Juice of ½ lemon 
• 2 teaspoons gelatine powder
• 2 tablespoons boiling water

Coating:

• 1 cup shredded coconut 
• 1 cup desiccated coconut

Method:

To prepare the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Line a 25cm square cake tin (spring base is preferred) with baking paper. Leave the sides ungreased to ensure the cake rises evenly.
3. In a large bowl sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder 3 times, this is an important step to ensure the cake is light, set aside.
4. In a separate bowl add the butter, caster sugar and the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod, using electric beaters beat until the mix is creamy and smooth. This will take a minimum of 10 minutes of continuous beating.
5. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time while beating continuously. Gradually sift the flour mix again over the batter while gently folding it in with a spatula, follow with adding the milk. If the mix is too dry add a little dash more milk.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 20- 25 minutes. Test if the cake is cooked through by placing a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean it is cooked, if it comes out with batter mix on it, cook it for a further 5 mins. Leave the cake to cool for 15 minutes in the tin then turn it out onto a cooling rack to completely cool before glazing.

To prepare the glaze:

1. Using a food processor add the mango flesh, icing sugar, cream cheese and lemon juice. Blitz until it’s completely smooth.
2. Stir the gelatine with the boiling water in a small cup until its completely dissolved. Add to mango mix and give it a quick blitz. Place the mixture into the fridge for 10 minutes to allow it to thicken slightly.

To glaze and coat the lamingtons:

1. Slice the cake up into 5cm x 5cm squares.
2. Spread the desiccated and shredded coconut together over a wide plate. 
3. Coat one square of cake completely one at a time in the mango mixture then in the coconut by gently rolling it to ensure all sides are well coated.
4. Place the lamingtons in the fridge to allow to set before serving.

Recipe by Bonnie Coumber