Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Mango Bango Cheesecake


Who can resist the temptation of sweet, juicy mangoes and cheesecake?  When I read Rose’s Mango Bango Cheesecake recipe, the use of Indian mangoes and saffron in the recipe excites me. 







Alphonso mangoes brought back good memories of an old friend, who used to bring boxes of these golden-saffron coloured fruits from India.  I planted the seed of these mangoes in the yard but it has yet to bear any fruit. 

The greatest challenge to make this cake was to find the mangoes.  The mango hunt started with 2 unsuccesful trips to Little India.  The shopkeeper told me they had no canned mango pulps and Alphonso mango season was over.  I called up my friend in India to ask if he remembered any shop selling the canned mangoes here, but no luck - he told me the Alphonso season ended since May and never seen the canned mangoes in the local Indian shops.



Finally, I decided to just go with fresh mangoes but even that was a challenge.  I reached out to a few family members and friend and it took almost a week to eventually get some mangoes.  My friend found some local mangoes (left) and some Indian Banganapalli mangoes (right) through her Indian colleagues.  Banganapalli is one of the top 5 mangoes in India.

  


CAKE BASE

I read it from a few Alpha Bakers blogs that either the Light Sponge Cake or ladyfingers would work out just as good.  I also contemplated to use a biscuit base instead.  Finally, decided to give the sponge cake base a try and glad I did.  It turned out very nice - when combined with the rich and creamy texture of the cheesecake, it was so velvety that it just melted in the mouth, leaving behind a hint of vanilla fragrance.


   

MANGO CHEESE FILLING

The fresh mangoes were pureed and pressed through the fine-mesh strainer.  By mistake, I cooked all the pureed mangoes over low fire, instead of saving 1/2 cup for the cheese filling.  So I had to puree again.

 

Apart from the mango preparation, the remaining process to prepare the filling was relatively quick and easy.

  

Since I had more mango concentrate, I swirled in a little more to both layers.  The rest went into my bowl of greek yogurt as mid morning snack.

  

BAKING

Although I carefully wrapped up the springform pan with 3 layers of large sheet of heavy duty aluminium foil, there was still water seepage after baking the cheesecake in water bath.  Fortunately, the cheesecake turned out well, but I would go with the silicone pan instead of foil hte next time.  The baked cheesecake had a great fragrance - it was hard to keep it out at the kitchen top for so long and refrigerate overnight.




After adding the mango topping, I was able to unmold my cheesecake without torch /hot towel.  Again, it could be due to the water seepage.



I first thought the cheesecake would be slightly soggy, but I was wrong - every bite was like a mango explosion.  The sharp sweet note of the mango with the mellow taste of the cheese - what else could treat the thousands of taste buds on our tongue?  I just couldn't really taste the cardamom but that could just be me.



I have reached out to my mango hunt team again.  Hope to have better mango luck this time!

4 comments:

  1. It's beautiful! So glad it worked okay with the seepage. I'm with you about ordering a silicon pan. Your great photos show how pretty the cheesecake is. I love mangoes and have never heard about Banganapalli. We only get three different types in the grocery stores. Well done!

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    1. Yes, so glad it worked out well even with the seepage. I have not heard of Banganapalli as well. I guess no other mangoes can beat the colour of Alphonso but Banganapalli also has a distinct fragrance, taste nice and not as expensive compared to Alphonso.

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  2. awesome rendition! so glad you were able to get the mangoes!

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