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There's a reason why this recipe has millions of views on YouTube. It's got everything you could ever ask for in a dessert, delicious, refreshing, beautiful, easy, and without even trying or needing to be modified, it's naturally healthy, vegan, and gluten-free.
Agar agar jelly is widely used in Thai cuisine to make a variety of desserts, and I have always loved agar agar jelly growing up. This is a recipe I developed because I wanted to utilize the ripe mangoes that are in season by making a dessert that lets the mango flavour shine.
If you've got more question about agar agar, check out this Agar Agar FAQ video.
For more agar agar jelly recipe, check these out!
Coconut Jelly Duo
Agar Jelly Fruit Cake
Coffee & Cream Agar Jelly
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Mango Coconut Jelly Cubes วุ้นมะม่วง (woon mamuang)
- Yield: One 8-inch square pan
Ingredients
Mango Layer
- 250 g mango flesh (for purée), roughly cubed (from about 1 ½ - 2 mangos, scant 2 cups)
- Flesh of 1 mango, 1-cm cubes
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 2 tsp (5.2 g) agar agar powder (see note)
- ⅓ cup sugar
- Lime juice, to taste
- 15 small mint leaves, optional
Coconut Layer
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 tsp (2.6 g) agar agar powder (see note)
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅔ cup coconut milk
Instructions
For the mango layer:
In a blender, blend the mango cubes (for purée) and orange juice until smooth. In a small pot, add water and agar agar powder and stir to distribute the powder. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently, making sure that all the agar agar powder has dissolved. Add sugar and mango purée and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and taste, adding more sugar and/or lime juice as needed.
Pour the mango mixture into a mould. You can use whatever mould you like; I used a square pan, but you can also make individual ones using cups, glasses, etc. Add the 1-cm mango cubes into the mango base, distributing the cubes evenly throughout, and pushing them down to make sure they are submerged. If desired, you can add mint leaves all throughout, pushing them into the mango base. Note: Agar agar jelly sets at room temperature, so work quickly especially if you are making small ones.
Let the jelly set until the surface is firm enough to pour on the next layer (if you touch it gently and your fingers are not poking through, it's ready). You CAN put it in the fridge to make it go faster, but do not let this set completely cold! (see note)
For the coconut layer:
In a small pot, combine water and agar agar powder and stir to distribute the powder. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently, making sure that all the agar agar powder has dissolved. Add sugar, salt, and stir until dissolved. Add coconut milk, stir to mix and remove from heat. You can use this immediately if the mango layer has set, if the mango layer has not set, keep this mixture hot, covered, over the lowest heat setting on the stove to prevent it from setting and becoming clumpy.
Once the surface of the mango layer has set, gently pour the coconut layer over the back of a spoon on to the mango base (if you pour too hard it might break or cause dents in the mango layer). Refrigerate for a few hours until cold.
Close to serving time, cut into cubes with a sharp knife and enjoy!
Important Note on Unmolding: Do not unmold or cut agar jelly until close to serving time. When agar jelly is uncontained, water will slowly seep out because it's an unstable gel. A small amount of water loss will not affect how it tastes, and if it has to sit for a couple of hours unmolded that's fine, but you want to avoid it when possible. If you want to give it away to people, I recommend making it in clear heat-proof plastic or glass cups that you're willing to part with.
Notes
Make sure you're buying pure agar agar powder with no sugar or any other ingredients added (you need to check the ingredient list.) Also if measuring by volume, you need to use agar agar POWDER. If using flakes, use the weight in grams.
A few people have reported that their coconut layer is not sticking to the mango layerand it slides off when cut. This happens because the bottom layer has set too cold, and the top layer isn't hot enough. The layers will stick when the heat from the coconut mixture dissolves a tiny bit of the surface of the mango layer. So if the bottom layer is too cold and/or the top layer isn't hot enough, they won't stick together. See my coffee agar jelly video where I talk more about this.
Keywords: Mango, jelly, dessert, gluten free, vegan
Em
Is it coconut milk from a can or carton?
Pailin Chongchitnant
Always carton 🙂
Terry
Hello,
I tried to make the coconut jelly only, and athough the taste is superb, I noticed that after being in the fridge, the coconut milk seems to separate creating a whiter layer on top and a more transparent layer on the bottom. Any idea how to prevent this?
Thank you
Pailin Chongchitnant
That will happen naturally as coconut fat floats to the top. I wouldn't worry about it as it's just aesthetcis, but to prevent it you can add a bit of rice flour to thicken it and bind the fat to the water.
Julie
If I use a rimmed metal cookie sheet...do I have to grease it first?
Pailin Chongchitnant
No, these don't really stick.
Den
can I freeze this ?
Pailin Chongchitnant
I froze it once but with an intention to eat it half-thawed like popsicle which was really good. Never tried to thaw it all the way so not sure how that would go! Worth a try though!
Lani
Do you use fresh Orange juice or can Orange juice instead?? And how about coconut milk?? Is it fresh or can also?? Thx b4
Sarah Rose
If the agar-agar is in strips instead of powder then how much should I take for each layer?
★★★★★
Sharvinee
Hi, can I use gelatin powder instead of agar agar powder?
Pailin Chongchitnant
No, they are very different things.