Mango and Cottage Cheese Snowballs in Custard Sauce

“Stressed spelled backwards is desserts” goes a very popular quote. Couldn’t agree more since desserts somehow, have this innate ability to  transcend you into a fairy tale world. A world that has all things nice, mushy; a dream that has no end. Who can deny the mood lifting, luscious goodness of a chocolate cake , the delicate arrangement of a trifle pudding, the creamy goodness of a strawberry ice cream, the rich, silky smoothness of a custard with the caramel set on top. Sheer culinary pleasures!!

Traditionally, no Indian meal is ever complete if there are no desserts. And then there is the omnipresent  ‘mooh meetha kijiye’ (‘please have a sweet’) usually when there is happy occasion to celebrate.  I am not exaggerating when I say that in a country of the size of India; you would get a new variety of dessert may every 200 kms. At my place, desserts are a regular indulgence. The most regular one being the “kheer” or the very Mangalorean “payasam”; while the more extravagant being the custards and rich cream cakes or puddings. So, like I had mentioned in my post on the "Kheema Kofta Pulao”, when we had guest coming over for dinner and we had Mango and  Cottage Cheese Balls in Custard Sauce for desert. Long name ehh? Relax and don’t let it scare you. This recipe is a product of my mums eureka moment. Honestly, I am not much a mango lover. As a kid, and even to this day I ran a mile at the mention of mangoes and when my mum explained the dish; I tried my best to cajole her into making something else but I guess the king of fruits deserved his rightful debut on the blog. You could make the snowballs and custard earlier at your convenience and refrigerate; combine the two just as your about to serve. My guest who were expecting some of the routine stuff, gave out a loud cheer when I brought them out. I felt I just won the moon!!!

Go ahead and try these, the very regal mango given a makeover and perfectly complimented by the custard sauce. Your very own journey into the fabled land of desserts. I promise you mangoes and custard will never be the same anymore.

Ingredients:

To make the snowballs:

• 2 large and ripe alphonso mangoes, skinned and cubed into fine bits
• 125 grams cottage cheese, finely grated
• 50 grams powdered sugar
• 8-10 slices white bread, cut of the sides
• Sugar Syrup, for drizzling on the bread & 2 teaspoons for the cottage cheese and mango mix

To make the custard sauce:

• 400 ml milk.
• 4 teaspoons of custard powder (I used Vanilla Flavour)
• 6-8 teaspoons sugar.

For the Garnishing

• 1 ripe mango, pureed *Refer notes below
• Few glazed cherries

Procedure:

To make the snowballs:

• Grate the cottage cheese in a bowl and add the mango cubes & powdered sugar. Mix well.
• Cut the sides of the bread and drizzle with the sugar syrup till the slice is sufficiently moist. Do not wet the bread slice too much as it may be too soft and may not bind well.
• Now, place a spoonful of the mixture in the center of the bread slice and gently fold the slice into a sphere.
• Repeat the same for all the bread slices.
• Once you complete all the spheres, refrigerate for an hour

To make the custard sauce:

• Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat
• Combine the custard power in some water in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps.
• Add this mixture to boiling milk, stir continuously. 
• As the milk starts to thicken add the sugar. Continue stirring.
• Once the mixture has reached desired thickness, remove from the heat and allow it to cool thoroughly.
• Refrigerate for about half an hour.

To assemble:-

• Keep one snowball in each of the serving portions.
• Pour a generous quantity of the custard in each of the serving portions.
• Add a spoonful of the mango puree and the cherries.
• Serve chilled

Notes:

• To make the make mango puree, combine mango pulp, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon of milk. Blend using a hand mixer till all ingredients are combined well and the mixture is of a pouring consistency.