There are two things that make summers tolerable in South Florida: the beach and fresh fruit. Living only a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, I have the first of my summer pastimes covered; several fruit trees growing in my backyard permit me to indulge myself in the second: eating fresh fruit.   From mid June until late August, my two mango trees keep me supplied with an abundance of fresh fruit, so much so that I sometimes wonder what to do with so many mangoes. Although I give away a fair number of them to friends and family, I always set aside a few to make delicious fresh natural mango marmalade.

Ingredients:

• 3  medium size ripe mangoes

Three ripe mangoes.

• white sugar
• vanilla extract

Preparation:

• Peel 3 ripe mangoes. If possible, choose mangoes that do not have a fibrous texture.
• Cut the mangoes into chunks and put them in your blender.
• Puree the mangoes into a smooth creamy pulp.
• Place the mango pulp into a large pot. Add 2 cups of white sugar and mix thoroughly. Note: The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the mangoes and personal taste, but sugar is an essential ingredient of marmalade.
• Place the pot on the burner at medium heat – or slightly more – and bring to a slight boil.

Mango pulp at a slight boil.

• Reduce heat, maintaining slight boil. Add ½ a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Let cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally to keep marmalade from sticking to the pot.

Hot mango marmalade after an hour's cooking.

• After an hour, remove the mango marmalade from the stove, and let cool completely. Note how the marmalade has thickened and decreased in volume.

Mango marmalade after cooling.

• Chill marmalade overnight.
• Serve mango marmalade with Gouda or cream cheese.

Mango marmalade served with cream cheese.