Tropical Dreamsicle Sauce

The other day a lifelong girlfriend stopped by to visit.  When she came, she had this box in her hands.  She said that her cousin gave her a ‘fruit of the month’ club as a gift and this month’s ‘fruits’ just didn’t appeal to her—mango, guava and limes.  ‘Do you mind if I post what I create on FB at Ally’s Kitchen…I mean what if your cousin sees that you’ve re-gifted to me?’  We both laughed. 

So, knowing that my Bohemian brain would create something, I gladly accepted, left them on the counter in the box another 2 days to get nice and ripe, then began working my magic.  As I was peeling the papaya, I asked Ben, who was loading the dishwasher, for any ideas.  “Don’t know what it tastes like, never had it…”

After peeling and cutting a bite for him, he tasted it, and promptly replied, ‘Not my favorite…’  Oh, lordy, what to do—I mean Ben’s one of my best taste testers.  Then I asked him about mango.  ‘Don’t know what it tastes like, never had it…’  I reminded him that, yes, he’d had it in a black bean salsa over seared tuna…’oh, yeah, like that…’  I breathed a sigh of relief!  I knew I didn’t want to cook it, wanted to leave the fresh tastes intact.  Sitting down staring at these tropical beauties, I thought back to life growing up in the hollers of West Virginia—gosh, we’d never even heard of these fruits—what a world that had opened to me.  Then there was a ‘flash’ of the ‘little store’ which was around the corner from our home, and what popped in my whacky mind was—Dreamsicles!  Yep, the ice cream!  Maybe it was the color of the fruit’s meat…I’m not sure, but I then knew I had my new creation.

I also knew it needed, at least for us, some additional flavor and maybe a tad bit more sweetness.  I had sitting on my counter some room temperature cream cheese (that I’d used earlier for the morning’s breakfast toast), so that became an ingredient.  My Dreamsicle was coming to life! Then I spied an almost empty bottle of agave in the pantry…mays well get rid of that and free up some shelf space.

 Makes:  About 2 1/2 cups

What you need:

2 papaya fruit peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes

1 mango peeled and in random pieces

2 tbl agave (or honey)

4 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1 zest of a lime

1 juice of a lime (same one!)

 

What you do:

Put the tropical fruit into a food processor and puree.  Add agave, lime zest and lime juice and pulse to blend well.  Store in jar and refrigerate.  How you use it is all up to you.  However, if you need ideas:  Drizzle on cakes, cookies and pies.  Use as a sauce for seafood.  Add other fresh ingredients like chopped green peppers and green onions and make another type sauce.  Throw in some drained black beans and make a salsa.  I’ve got another idea of making puff muffins…come back to see what I create!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©2012  Alice D’Antoni Phillips  Ally’s Kitchen