Mango & Plantain Parfait

A lush, tropical reimagination of classic layered desserts, this Mango & Plantain Float draws its vibrance from our award-winning Mango Plantain Bar. Creamy, airy chocolate mousse made with milk chocolate and a touch of cocoa melts into buttery graham layers, while golden fried plantains and ripe ataulfo mango bring rich caramel and bright, sunny notes. Each spoonful of this mango parfait is a dance of textures — crisp, silky, juicy, smooth — wrapped in flavor that’s as joyful as it is unexpected. Get the recipe by Remi of @cafe.remi:

Mango & Plantain Parfait

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Mousse

• 60ml (¼ cup) hot water
• 11g (2 tbsp) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4oz jcoco Mango Plantain milk chocolate, roughly chopped
• 240ml (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
  

For Assembly

• 1 pack of graham crackers
• 1 ripe ataulfo mango
• 1 very ripe yellow plantain
• Neutral oil
• Turbinado or brown sugar (optional)

How To Make It

1. For the Chocolate Mousse In a small bowl, add the unsweetened cocoa powder and hot water—whisk until smooth. In a separate heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring intermittently. Pour the hot water mixture into the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside.
   2. In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream just until medium peaks form; when you lift the beaters, the tips of the peaks should curl slightly. Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the whipped cream using a spoon or rubber spatula. Avoid over-mixing!
   
   
   
   3. Assemble the Float Choose your serving dish of choice—I prefer glass, to ensure that the layers can be seen. The yield for this recipe is not large, so smaller dishes such as coupe glasses are ideal, but you could always double (or triple, or quadruple) the recipe to fi t a larger dish.
   4. In a nonstick pan, add enough neutral oil to fi ll the pan about a fourth-inch deep. Slice the ripe plantain at an angle on a bias about a half-inch thick. Heat the oil over medium heat until very hot—it should shimmer. Add some plantains, ensuring not to overcrowd the pan. The plantains should sizzle; otherwise, the oil is not hot enough. Sauté the plantains until they turn golden brown and develop a slight crisp, around 2–3 minutes per side. Place them on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. Optionally, sprinkle them with turbinado or brown sugar.
   5. Crush the graham crackers into your desired crumb. Evenly spread about half of the crushed graham crackers into the bottom of the dish or dishes. Then, spread a third of the chocolate mousse over the graham cracker crumbs. Dice the mango and fried plantains. Sprinkle evenly across the top. Repeat the layers in the same order: the second half of the graham crackers, a third of the mousse, diced mango and plantain. You can arrange the mango and plantain on top of the fl oat however you wish—be creative!
   6. Cover and chill for at least two hours. The assembled float can be refrigerated for up to five days.

Tips

Make sure your plantain is very ripe, with skin almost entirely black! You can try to speed up the ripening by putting the plantain in a brown bag with some apples, or you can bake it in the oven.

Get the full printable recipe here.

Photos by: Remi