Mango Pudding
This Mango Pudding is the fruity, lightly creamy version that’s often served in Chinese restaurants. It takes only minutes to prepare.
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While my family doesn’t eat out at restaurants that often anymore (who can afford to in this economy?), there are a handful that we go to on a somewhat regular basis. One of them is a dim sum restaurant. This restaurant has carts that get wheeled around the restaurant, allowing diners to choose whichever small dishes they’d like.
My daughter’s favorite cart is the one that has desserts on it. While Mr. Dreamboat and I always scoop up the Sugar Puff Doughnuts, she likes the mango pudding. The pudding comes in small individual dishes and has a texture more like Jello than North American-style puddings.
The last time we were at the restaurant and she ordered her favorite dessert, I pondered whether it was realistic to make it at home, and how difficult it would be to achieve the creamy yet fruity flavor and gelled texture. As it turns out, it’s not difficult at all. Keep reading to learn how.
How to Make Mango Pudding
Making mango pudding is just as easy as making Jell-O. Start by sprinkling the gelatin powder over some cold water in a medium bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes for the gelatin to bloom.
Meanwhile, heat up half of the mango nectar in the microwave (or in a small saucepan). It does not need to come to a boil, but it should be steaming. Pour the hot nectar over the bloomed gelatin and stir to dissolve. Stir in the sugar. Pour in the remaining (cold) mango nectar, as well as the cream (or evaporated milk), and stir to mix.
Pour the mango mixture into 6-8 small bowls, dishes, or glasses. While you can let it set in the bowl and spoon out individual portions from there, I think it looks a lot more impressive when the portions are individually set in their serving dishes.
Set the dishes onto a tray for easier transportation, and cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel. Move the dishes (or bowl) to the fridge to set for 1-2 hours.
If desired, you can garnish the mango pudding with diced or sliced fresh mango, other tropical fruit, mint leaves, and/or a drizzle of additional cream or coconut milk.
Store any of the remaining portions covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Mango Pudding Ingredients
- Cold water – use whatever water you normally drink. Cold tap water is fine.
- Unflavored gelatin – Unflavored gelatin is available in boxes of small pouches or in larger quantities in cartons. Note that there is approximately 2 ½ teaspoons of gelatin in one packet of Knox gelatin. You can use one packet for this recipe, but the resulting pudding will be slightly firmer than what I got. If that’s not what you want, simply measure out 2 teaspoons from the packet and discard the rest or save it for later. If you purchase a brand other than Knox, make sure to check the package or measure how much is in one packet before adding it to the recipe.
- Mango nectar – Fruit nectar is similar to fruit juice, but often much thicker, as it’s made from fruit purees. They often contain added sugar and are quite sweet. In my opinion, they’re not palatable to drink on their own, due to their thick texture, but can be watered down to drink or be used in desserts or other recipes.
- Granulated sugar
- Half-and-half cream or evaporated milk – I used half-and-half cream, but you can certainly use evaporated milk instead. If you want more of a tropical flavor, and/or you want to make a dairy-free version, you can use coconut milk. I would recommend light coconut milk for this recipe.
Want more mango recipes?
Mango Pudding Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one serving if you divide the recipe into 8 portions. If your portions are larger (or smaller) than this, the nutrition information will vary accordingly.
The nutrition calculations use half-and-half cream. Using evaporated milk will result in the pudding being lower in fat, but similar or even slightly higher in calories.
To make this pudding dairy-free, replace the half-and-half cream with light coconut milk or another dairy-free cream replacement.
Note that gelatin is made from animal products and is not vegetarian.
Mango Pudding
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pour 1/4 cup cold water into a medium bowl. Sprinkle 4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin over the cold water and let it stand for about 5 minutes.
- Heat 1 cup of the mango nectar in the microwave on high for 1 minute until hot (alternatively, you can heat it in a small saucepan over high heat, but don't heat it until it boils).
- Stir the hot mango nectar into the bloomed gelatin until it dissolves. Stir in 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, the remaining 1 cup of mango nectar, and 1 cup half and half cream.
- Divide the mango mixture into 6-8 small bowls, dishes, or cups (alternatively, you can just let it set in the bowl, and scoop it from there after setting, but it looks more impressive when it's set in individual serving dishes).
- Place the dishes (or bowl) in the fridge and cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel. Let it set completely (about 1-2 hours).
- If desired, garnish with diced or sliced fresh mango, mint leaves, a drizzle of cream or coconut milk. Store any leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Notes
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