It’s gloomy, it’s cold, and winter is less than a month away. Some people find it freeing, even liberating, but me? It gets me a little down…

So, here goes—heavy weaponry against seasonal depression.

Something exotic, with enough sugar to keep a whole class of 4th graders awake until spring.

before getting to that one, I messed it up a couple of times—too much liquid, and the meringue turned into a sticky marshmallow mess. After a few adjustments, though, we’ve got something much more acceptable.

For 8 frozen desserts

For the meringues:

• 2 passion fruits
• 4 egg whites
• 160g cane sugar

For the mango ice cream:

• 1 mango
• 75g cane sugar
• ½ vanilla bean
• ½ liter milk
• 4 egg yolks

for garnish and decoration

• ½ Victoria pineapple, sliced vertically

the first step will involve extracting coulis, so get your favorite food mill and start spinning

I recommend using a manual extractor to avoid breaking the passion-fruit seeds

First, process the two passion fruits and set aside the juice for the meringues. Then, peel and chop the mango, and purée it—this will be for the ice cream.

Now, on to the meringues. Beat the egg whites until they start to form peaks. Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat. Right after the sugar, mix in the passion fruit purée.

The meringue mixture should “beak” (form stiff peaks). If you notice it starting to deflate, stop adding the purée.

Divide the mixture into 16 meringues using either a piping bag or a spoon. They should all fit on a standard baking sheet.

And now… patience is key. These sweet little meringues will need three hours to bake:

• 45 minutes at 110°C (230°F),
• 1 hour at 105°C (220°F),
• and 1 hour 15 minutes at 100°C (210°F).

Yes, three hours. That’s the price for a flavorful meringue!

on to the ice cream apparel now, start with a simple vanilla custard:

• Infuse the split vanilla bean in the milk over low heat for 10 minutes.
• Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until they turn pale.
• Gradually add the milk to the egg-sugar mixture, stirring constantly.

Let it reduce over low heat, stirring regularly, for about 30 minutes at 85°C (185°F).

Now, full disclosure—your mileage may vary. I have a robot that does this for me. If you’re doing it manually, just do your best! Ideally, your vanilla custard should reduce back down to 500ml.

Cool the custard to room temperature and then mix in the mango purée (around 250ml; if it’s less than 200ml, it might be time to have a chat with your grocer).

Process the mixture in an ice cream maker for 1 hour.

I asked for a vertical section of the pineapple in the ingredients list for a good reeason : we’ll make half-moon slices progressing through  the pineapple vertically. Use a mandoline to cut 1.5mm thick slices lengthwise.

To dry them:

• First, caramelize lightly under the grill at 200°C (390°F) for 5 minutes.
• Then dry flat on a rack or parchment paper at 80°C (175°F) with convection for about 1 hour.

this will get slightly caramelized verging on charred slices, I find it visually interesting, it suggests an open flame cooking giving an exotic style to the dish, if you want ‘French cuisine’ style, obviously, dry a bot slower.

moving on to the construction… if you have silicone half-sphere molds (8-10cm), now’s the time to use them. Here’s the process:

1. Fill the mold with mango ice cream to 1/3 of its height.
2. Place a meringue upside down on top of the ice cream.
3. Fill the rest of the mold with more ice cream.

If you’re mold-less like me, no worries! Assemble the dessert directly on the meringues:

1. Place the meringues flat on a tray.
2. Use a spatula (or the back of a spoon if you’re really stuck) to coat the meringue with 1–1.5cm of ice cream.

Whatever your method, put them back in the freezer for 10 minutes for a uniform set

Not in the deep freeze section though! If you serve this soft ice cream straight out of a -18°C freezer, it’ll be a concrete block. We’re aiming for creamy here.

For plating: rest the meringue on its side and top with one or two pineapple chips fanned out like a comb.

The result should look something like this