Answer: Mango-Coconut Ice Cream. Question: What to Do With All These Damn Mangoes?

This is the time of year in Miami when friends hand me mangoes. "I have more than I know what to do with," they are apt to say in these circumstances. In fact, it isn't that unusual for strangers to hand me mangoes. "I can't eat them all," they say, as if needing an excuse for giving fruit to someone they don't know. "There's only so much mango jam I can jar" is another line I tend to hear.

Well, here's one thing to do with mangoes: Follow the recipe below to make a delicious mango-coconut ice cream. It's win-win all the way: Use mangoes and produce something that will cool and refresh during these sultry summer afternoons. Photos will help you through the process.

You do have an ice-cream machine, right?

If not, you can pick up a Cuisinart ice-cream/yogurt/sorbet maker for $59.95 at Sur La Table in Aventura. It's not the best machine on the market, but it's the best for the money.

So now that you've run out and purchased your ice-cream maker (good thinking: beginning of summer is just the right time for this!), here's all you have to do.

Start with mangoes:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups mango purée
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup coconut flakes, toasted

Get your mangoes, cut 'em open, scoop out the flesh. Place the mango in a blender or food processor and purée. Put 1 1/4 cups into a medium-size bowl:

Next you'll make a custard: Beat the two eggs with a whisk until light, and then keep whisking while adding in the half-cup of sugar. Whip until it's pale in color and a bit thickened:

Meanwhile, heat one cup of the half-and-half until it simmers. Take a ladle of the hot half-and-half and slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking it into the eggs. Do this with another ladle of half-and-half until you've tempered the eggs:

Then slowly pour the tempered eggs into the hot half-and-half while whisking briskly:

Continue to stir constantly until the egg/half-and-half mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool:

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of half-and-half to the mango purée, along with the vanilla, lime juice, and custard. Mix well and chill for at least a couple of hours:

Follow the instructions for the ice-cream machine next -- with the Cuisinart it takes about 20 minutes to thicken; then it goes into the freezer a bit longer to solidify more:

While the ice cream is churning, place the coconut flakes on a sheet tray into a preheated 325-degree oven for about eight to ten minutes; move the flakes around once or twice so they brown evenly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.