It's official, my toddler is OBSESSED with mango. He loves eating it straight from the freezer and after trying it myself, I can see why. It tastes exactly like those Fruju tropical icecreams that dominated my childhood. I actually have plans to make a recreation of that exact icecream using this mango gummy recipe, so watch this space, I know your kids will love it.

As you all know, my approach to nutrition focuses on seasonal, unprocessed, wholefoods. But mango (and bananas) are where I bend my own rules as it doesn't grow locally to me, so is usually imported. When I'm buying frozen fruit, I always aim to buy organic if our budget allows it and I also try and buy from countries closer to me, or from companies that source their products from one country. With some frozen berries for example, you'll see the strawberries are from one country, the blueberries from another, and boysenberries from another - and then they are all packaged in another country completely. I have dreams of our supermarkets one day being filled with local, affordable, spray-free / organic produce - one day soon I hope!

Mango is a tropical fruit which is a great source of folate and vitamins A, C and E. The naturally occurring vitamin C is one of the reasons why I love including this tropical fruit in our gummies. Because our toddler loves mango, I aim to serve it with a source of fat when I can to slow down the blood sugar response to the fruit sugars and to provide extra nutrients. The great thing about making gummies is that the grass-fed gelatin powder provides a source of protein too, so they're getting so much more than just fruit.

I often get asked in consults if I recommend children should avoid fruit or if parents should limit it, and my answer is no! Including fruit regularly is an excellent way for them to nourish their bodies with a range of vitamins and nutrients found in fruit. Due to the natural sweetness of fruits, children are often drawn to eating it first. However when we offer the whole fruit, as opposed to just the juice, they are getting fibre which helps to fill them up and keep them satisfied. Pairing fruit with fat and protein is also a great way to slow down consumption and increase that satiety. If your child only eats fruit, you may want to consider offering other fruits first so they are getting a variety of nutrients. My other exception to this would be if your child has any other symptoms going on, such as digestive issues, where reviewing their diet as a bigger picture may be worthwhile.

I also love that mangoes are enzyme rich, meaning that they contain digestive enzymes which can assist with digestion. Mangoes actually produce amylase, the same digestive enzyme that our salivary glands create. When we chew, our saliva contains this enzyme - which is why we're told to chew our food 20 times or more per mouthful! This digestive enzyme is designed to support carbohydrate digestion and becomes more active as the fruit ripens. However, this enzyme can also be the reason why people struggle making gummies with mango! Heat does tend to deactivate digestive enzymes, however if you cook them at a lower heat, you're more likely to retain the benefits.

The best thing about this recipe is the fact that you can switch the mango for any other fruit you have on hand and you'll have deliciously gut-friendly gummies in seconds. Well, maybe longer than seconds, as you'll have to wait for them to set!

So to begin with you want to bloom your gelatin powder. I like using the Nutra Organics Grass-Fed Gelatin Powder which you can buy here, or Great Lakes Gelatin is also another brand I occasionally purchase. Because of the high enzyme content of mangoes, I tend to use slightly more gelatin than I would with some other fruits to ensure they still set.

The reason using gelatin and collagen powders regularly are a new craze (gelatin is the cooked form of collagen) is because we’ve changed the cuts of meat we typically eat. Traditional cultures would consume large amounts of gelatin through the nose-to-tail eating that they practiced (and that we are personally constantly striving for as a family), meaning that they cooked and consumed the entire animal which included gelatinous cuts, such as collagen-rich organs, like tripe and tendon, chuck roasts, shanks and bone broths for example. In our modern society, we don’t all eat gelatinous cuts as often anymore and some choose to supplement with gelatin or collagen powders to get the benefits. Regularly consuming gelatin provides benefits for our connective tissue, such as our skin, ligaments, bones and cartilage, and helps to heal and seal our gut lining, particularly helpful if you have ‘leaky gut’.

For our children, gelatin and collagen has incredible benefits too. In fact, Catherine Shanahan, M.D. talks about collagen-rich bone broth and says, “eating homemade bone stock in childhood has fantastic joint-strengthening and collagen fortifying effects that can last a lifetime.” And interestingly, in the early months of your child’s life they have openings in their intestinal lining, a normal state called open gut. This allows antibodies (protective proteins produced by the immune system) from mum’s milk to pass through their gut wall easily into their bloodstream, where they can protect your child. So by offering regular gelatin from 8 months, we are assisting our child’s gut lining to seal - incredible right? Finally, I must also mention one particular amino acid in gelatin, glycine, which has been shown to improve sleep quality - just in case you needed another reason to start incorporating it into your family’s diet!

Brain-Boosting Mango Curd and Coconut Gelatin Gummies
1. Bloom 3 heaped tablespoons of gelatin powder with 6 tablespoons of water until a smooth paste consistency is reached
2. To a pot, or your thermomix, add 1 cup of mango pieces and 1/2 cup of additive-free coconut cream and heat on a low heat until the mango is soft (if frozen) and the coconut cream has emulsified.
3. Allow the mixture to cool slightly then add 1/4 cup activated pumpkin seeds (optional) either blend in your thermomix, or use a stick blender to blend until smooth.
4. Quickly whisk in 2 egg yolks so they don't scramble.
5. Stir in your bloomed gelatin until it has melted into the mango mixture.
6. At the end, I also stirred in 1 tsp of raw manuka honey that is sourced from local to where I live. You could also add in hemp seeds (prior to blending) and fresh grated ginger for extra zing.
7. Pour into moulds and allow to set in the fridge. You can also pour the mixture into a dish and cut into squares if you'd prefer.
8. Relish in the satisfaction of offering your family a snack complete with brain-boosting choline, immune-boosting zinc and vitamin C, anti-viral raw honey, lauric acid rich coconut cream and gut-friendly gelatin. Plus they taste like lemon curd, only mango!

If serving this to young babies once they have started solid foods, I recommend offering gelatin powder from around 8 months, you can make the gummies into more panna cotta consistency by reducing the gelatin quantity to 2 tbsp. For older babies, you can use the firmer gummies consistency in the recipe. You can cut the set gummies into strips for a baby-led weaning approach. Gelatin is not vegan or vegetarian friendly, there is an alternative you can use Agar, which is found in seaweed and offers a different range of nutrients to gelatin including iron, calcium and magnesium with low sodium (however I haven’t used this myself so can’t vouch for how well gummies set using this).

In my consultations with parents, I love sharing delicious recipes with them - just like this one. If you’d like support starting your baby on solid foods, or navigating nourishing meal times as your child gets older, you can book here.