The Long Awaited Mango Mousse Tart

Ok. It's been a while but it's been that kind of week that required me to COMMUTE to Tyson's Corner from the other side of the DC diamond. I've never been so exhausted in my life. How do people do it? Because seriously, I was having a nervous breakdown every evening for the two days I had to make the 7 am commute.

Anyway, I said I would post the mango mousse tart recipe. This comes from Martha Stewart Living. The recipe calls for either eight round molds (like they use to plate things in restaurants or an 8-inch springform pan. I ended up using a 10-inch tart pan. It worked perfectly fine.

For the crust:
1 ounce salted, dry-roasted macadamia nuts (1/4 cup)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

For the mousse
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (1 scant tablespoon)
- Whole Foods did not have any unflavored gelatin so I substituted 2 tablespoons of organic orange jello and it worked perfectly fine.
2 firm but ripe mangoes
(each 1 pound)
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat over to 250 degrees. Lightly coat ring molds or pan with cooking spray. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Make the crust: pulse macadamia nuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground. In a bowl, combine nuts, flour and butter with a fork until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Press into pan or molds. Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.
3. Make the mousse: Pour orange juice into a small saucepan. Sprinkle with gelatin and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Heat over low heat, stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat.
4. Cut 1/4 of the mango into 1/4 inch thick slices for garnish (halve large slices). Coarsely chop remaining mangoes. In a blender, puree chopped mangoes, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. With machine running, add gelatin mixture in a slow and steady stream until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
5. Beat cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and beat until soft peaks return. Whisk 1/3 of the whipped cream into the mango mixture. Gently fold the remaining whipped cream.
6. Pour into molds/pan until 3/4 full and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze until firm (at least 4 hours and up to a week).
7. While the recipe says to let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving. I found it's soft enough to serve straight from the freezer.

Receive accolades with a degree of modesty. Inwardly exult.