Everyone loves mango graham float, the classic Pinoy dessert that layers whipped cream, graham crackers, and ripe mangoes. Because it’s a no-bake layer cake, you can easily whip one up and hoard it in your fridge, ready to serve for merienda or a late night craving.
Inspired by Jollibee's popular peach mango pie, this mango float combines canned sweet peaches and ripe mangoes.
For the mango float base, Cody adds cream cheese into the whipped cream for a rich, velvety texture. The extra fat from the cream cheese helps achieve more volume while adding some tanginess to balance the sweet fruit.
And by folding diced mangoes and peaches into the mixture, you get chunks of fruit in every bite. It’s like fruit salad, peach mango pie, and no-bake cheesecake in one!
How to get perfect whipped cream
Keep it cold
Before you start whipping, chill your cream and the bowl you’ll be using. The fat molecules in chilled cream trap the air bubbles as you’re whipping. But warm temperatures will soften that fat, making it trickier to whip the cream. Working with cold cream and a cold vessel means it’ll whip faster and come out thicker, smoother, and airier.
What are soft peaks?
You see it in recipes all the time: “Whisk until the mixture forms soft peaks”. But what does it really mean?
Whether you’re whipping cream or egg whites, it starts out as a liquid. Whipping with a whisk or hand mixer incorporates air into the mixture, making it thicker. “Soft peaks” happen when your mixture thickens enough to form soft shapes. It should briefly hold its shape if you hold your whisk or spoon up before flopping back into the bowl.
This is the ideal texture for folding into other things—like peaches and mangoes! Make sure to fold gently. You don’t want to deflate all those air bubbles that you worked so hard to incorporate into your cream.
Don’t over-whip!
If you keep whisking, you’ll reach “stiff peaks''. This is when the mixture holds its shape completely and clings to your whisk as you hold it above the bowl. If you take it too far and over-whip, the mixture will start to “break”. As the fats start to separate from the liquid, the cream turns grainy and curd-like. Definitely not the consistency you want for mango float.
Don’t freak out if you over-whip! You can fix it by running your mixer on low speed, or beating with a whisk, while slowly drizzling cold unwhipped cream into the mixture.
But not all over-whipped cream is salvageable. If you happen to walk away from your stand mixer and leave it whipping for too long, the fat in the cream turns paste-like and yellow, and completely separates from the liquid. At this point, you’re making butter. It’s best to start over in this case.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 6 mangoes, peeled
- 2 large cans peaches, drained
- 1 block (8oz) cream cheese, softened
- 300ml condensed milk
- 2 cups all-purpose cream
- graham crackers
Prep fruit: Dice 2 whole mangoes and 2 whole peaches (or 4 peach halves). Set aside. Thinly slice the rest of your mangoes and peaches. These will be used to layer between the filling. Set aside.
Make whipped cream: Using a hand mixer or a whisk, beat the cream cheese and condensed milk together in a chilled bowl. Once fully incorporated, add all-purpose cream and whip until the mixture is smooth, lump-free, and forms soft peaks. Be careful not to over-whip! Switch to a rubber spatula and fold diced mangoes and peaches into the whipped cream mixture. Set aside.
Assemble layers: Layer graham crackers into the bottom of a casserole or a deep baking dish. If the graham crackers don’t fit into your vessel, you can break them apart to fill in the gaps. Add about ⅓ of the whipped cream mixture, and use a rubber or offset spatula to spread it evenly. Top with sliced peaches and mangoes. Top with graham crackers. Continue layering until you reach the top of the vessel, ending with a neat layer of fruit over cream.
Chill and set: Cover your dish with cling film and refrigerate overnight, or freeze for 4-6 hours. Freezing for too long will result in a more solid, ice-cream consistency. If it’s too frozen, thaw for 10-20 minutes before serving.
