We’ve seen realistic desserts before, but Waitrose’s new Alphonso Mango Dessert might be one of the most convincing yet.
Designed to look exactly like a real, ripe mango – complete with glossy ‘skin’ and realistic shading – the tropical pud could easily be mistaken for the real thing at first glance.
Anyone remember Heston’s meat fruit? Well, this is the sweet, supermarket version.
Fortunately, it tastes as good as it looks. The dessert scored a strong 77/100 in the Good Housekeeping Institute’s recent summer dessert taste test, impressing our panel with its fresh mango flavour and unique crunchy-creamy texture.
Honestly, it’s almost too pretty to eat. Then you cut into it.
Beneath the bright mango white chocolate shell is a creamy mango mousse that genuinely tastes like summer, alongside a zippy passionfruit curd and a white chocolate biscuit base. Light, refreshing and not overly sweet, it’s exactly the kind of pudding we want sitting in the fridge during a heatwave.
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We’re not the only ones to be won over. We recently attended the Waitrose Food Lovers World Tour, where we tried more than 120 new products – but this realistic-looking mango was the dessert everyone was talking about.
Priced at £7.50 for two, it only launched yesterday – and we wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes one of Waitrose’s biggest summer hits.
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
