My friend Mr Leakey’s mangoes

I can’t so much as see a mango without at once visualizing a bath. It’s all JBS Haldane and Quentin Blake’s faults.

‘Aha,’ said Mr Leakey, ‘this is where I have a pull over Lord Melchett or the Duke of Westminster, or any other rich man. They might be able to get mangoes here by aeroplane, but they couldn’t give them as dessert at a smart dinner-party.’

‘Why not?’ I asked.

‘That shows you’ve never eaten one. The only proper place to eat a mango is in your bath. You see, it has a tough skin and a squashy inside, so when once you get through the skin all the juice squirts out. And that would make a nasty mess of people’s white shirts. D’you ever wear a stiff-fronted shirt?’

Mango and blueberry dessert for stiff-fronted shirts
a ripe mango
two handfuls of blueberries
thick Greek yoghurt
a teaspoon of acacia honey
a sprig of mint

Get the mango and turn it into a hedgehog, like this. Cut in half along the stone. Then cut first lengthways, then horizontally, without piercing the skin. Now turn inside out.

Blitz the blueberries with two tablespoons of yoghurt. Next, in a clean blitzing thing, blitz about half the mango, two more tablespoons of yoghurt, and a teaspoon of honey.

Layer the blueberry yoghurt mix at the bottom of a glass, scatter over fresh blueberries. Next layer the mango yoghurt and scatter over fresh mango. Add a sprig of mint. Good enough for any dinner party, or just a solitary indulgence.

Ridiculously refreshing

Stuck for a dessert? Look no futher than the store cupboard and the fridge.

Longans and blueberries
Open tin of longans. Tip into a bowl. Or use lychees if you prefer.

Add fresh blueberries.

That’s it.

Traffic jam!

This morning, about 3500 miles away from here, give or take a mile, my parents went to Blockley village shop and encountered a traffic jam. Odd, when you think about it, for a village with a population of about 1997 people.

gooseberry jam on the bottom
apricot jam next
strawberry jam on top

Panettone pudding

I never can think of a dessert because I haven’t got a sweet tooth. But here’s one.

Buy a panettone and cut slices according to greed. For four or five people, zest the skin off about three juicy oranges and squeeze their juice into a small pan. Keep the zest for decorative purposes later. Add a tablespoon of sugar and a knob of butter. Also add Cointreau or Triple Sec if you’ve got it, but it’s fine without. Leave on the heat till bubbling and melted then forget about it. Cut another orange into slices.

When you’re ready to serve, reheat the juice, toast the slices of panettone, stick them on a plate, put a couple of slices of orange on each plate, decorate with the zest, and drizzle over the hot juice. Dust with icing (confectioner’s) sugar if feeling fancy.