Individual konafa mango cups
I miss a lot of things about Cairo but there are very few things I’d pay an arm and a leg for, mangoes being one of those things.
Come July when that first batch drops and the whole kitchen smells sweet and fragrant. If I close my eyes I can actually hear my mother tell me off for not eating them over the sink. It’s messy business! Ah, the memories…
Serious question: how do you cut your mangoes? Crosswise twisting the pit out? Peel and slice? Every family has their own technique. Leave a comment below!
As deliciously sweet as it looks, there’s very little added sugar to this recipe which keeps it nice and light. So none of that sickly feeling afterwards!
Cheeky tip: soak the mango chunks in dark rum before adding to the cups for a boozy alternative.
Recipe
Individual konafa mango cups
To make 4 portions:
200g konafa/kataifi pastry, cold or frozen
65g butter or ghee, melted
1 tbsp white sugar
3 tbsp honey
280g + 200g mango chunks
227g double cream
6 tbsp icing sugar
Optional toppings:
Crème fraîche
Chopped roasted almonds
Directions
In a food processor, blitz the konafa until fine then slowly pour in the butter, add the sugar and pulse until well-incorporated. Add to a large dry pan and fry on a medium-high heat, stirring constantly until dark golden brown, about 10 minutes. Empty in a bowl and leave to cool to one side.
Whisk the double cream and icing sugar until thickened. In a blender, blend 280g of mango until smooth and stir into the cream. Cut up the remaining 200g mango into bite-size chunks and leave to one side. Add the honey to the konafa and mix well.
Assembly time! Grab your prettiest glasses, add about 2 teaspoons konafa, 2 heaped tablespoons mango cream, handful of mango chunks then repeat a second layer. Top with a dollop of crème fraîche and chopped almonds if using. Repeat 3x.
Devour instantly or better yet, cool in the fridge for an hour or even overnight. Bel hana!
'Bel hana' is a shorter version of 'bel hana wel shefa' which roughly translates to 'with happiness and good health' and the Egyptian way of saying Bon Appetit.
Don't forget to use #EgyptianEpicurean and tag me in your creations on Instagram!
