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Three, or is it four, MBPs (Coffee's event) have gone by but I haven’t participated for various reasons, mainly because I was too lazy for the hard work that the themes demanded but as it was sweets this time, I decided I would try the simplest dessert I came across and set about making this.



That it turned into something else is entirely my mistake, or my genius, as you like it. A misunderstanding of 1 cup evaporated milk and 1/3 cup sugar as 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk is probably what changed the nature of the dessert, not to mention the fruit mix that went into it.

Nandita had recommended two cups of mango puree. I had a variety of fruit but a single unit of each – one small mango, one big pear, one medium golden apple. I’m the impatient sort, and there are so many more events I want to participate in, so without waiting to buy more mangoes, I pureed everything into a reluctant two cups.

That done, I proceeded to open a can of condensed milk, patting myself on the back for using up stuff from the larder, but that was a short-lived joy, as I discovered I’d had this can since 2004!

I soldiered on gamely – after all, who said we had to eat what we made for MBP as long as we linked to the host and the original recipe and posted a photograph –whether it went into me or my dustbin would be my secret! I pulled the ring on the can and out burbled a toffee- or was it jaggery- coloured substance! It didn’t smell but there was no way I was sullying a potentially good (ok, tolerable) photograph with this gook! Oh no, the trash can received its first bit of refuse for the day, the grocer down the street got an order for home-delivery of a tin of condensed milk (and half-a-dozen eggs as incentive), and I settled down with a murder mystery.

Two hours later, doorbell rung, transaction made, I take the condensed milk into the kitchen, and horror of horrors, things have changed since 2004! The manufacturer has decided it’s cheaper to dispense with convenient packaging (read ring) and go to the old ways, so there I was, hammering one of my biggest and best knives into the can with the handle of my Oxo vegetable peeler. Serves me right – I finally want to take a stab at MBP and this is what it entails!

Well, after the milk came sputtering out of the various gashes I managed to make, I mixed it with the puree, the 1–tbsp-china-grass-melted-in-200-ml-water solution and tenderly ladled it into ramekins, the rest into a larger bowl and went off for a much needed, long and leisurely bath.

Unhappily, the pudding didn’t set. I hadn’t expected much by way of colour, of course, as the puree’s colour got diluted by the milk, but it was still like baby food. One ramekin went into the freezer. After I returned from work, I went straight to the fridge and poked another ramekin gingerly! Tough luck, it remained soft. But the freezer had yielded results!

Dinner followed, and it was time for the photography session. A mango was diced, a plate produced, the stuff decorated, pictures taken, lessons learnt! It can only get better next time!

Monthly Blog Patrolling Mango Condensed Milk