What would you make with Mango and Shortbread?
Personally, I’m a big fan of Mango Cheesecake…and shortbread crust makes it all the better! Unfortunately this post comes with good news and bad news.
Good news: This recipe was delicious! Look at the yummy diced mango about to get pulverized for a silky, smooth and tropical cheesecake.
Bad news: it’s the last thing I made before horribly spraining my ankle which I now have to stay off of for at least 10 days keeping me out of the kitchen. Actually it traps me in my apartment because I live on the 2nd floor and there’s no elevator. I also bike to work so even if I could lumber around a lab on crutches, I can’t get there! Here’s the lesson I learned: Flip Flops and Laser Tag do NOT mix. Especially if you are fully dedicated to being a Calamity Jane like I am. I’ve managed to rack up more time getting MRIs, X-rayed and Cat Scans than most people ever do. In my defense, I earned my first cast in a wicked game of girl vs. boy red rover on the playground which I have to say is a pretty worthy cause. From there followed bike accidents, hiking spills, tap dance incidents and the discovery of chronic pain caused by a particularly large non-ossifying fibroma in my right tibia. Most of the issues affected my right leg though, so I guess the left felt a bit…left out.
On to the cheesecake!
Mango Cheesecake
Crust
- Shortbread cookies (homemade!)
- 2 tbsp butter
Cheesecake
- 24 ounces cream cheese – room temperature is best
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 mangoes – pureed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup mango nectar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the crust by crumbling together butter and shortbread cookies. Press these to the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. I like to cut out circles of parchment paper to line the bottom, makes it easier to move cheesecake from pan to serving plate.
While the crust bakes blend together cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs one at a time followed by egg yolks. Then add in mango puree, nectar and 1 cup of sour cream.
Here’s the trick with cheesecake: before you fill the springform pan, cover the outside with aluminum foil. This keeps the cheesecake safe while it bakes in a water bath! Oh water bath, you have saved many a cheesecake from treacherous cracking!
Lower the oven to 325 and bake the cheesecake for roughly an hour or until the center wiggles. Make sure you chill the sucker for a long, long time before opening it. I sadly didn’t have the patience and so it didn’t set perfectly so it was inbetween a cheesecake and a mousse but still delicious. Oh and to get that pretty top I reserved a bit of the pureed mango, mixed it with some gelatin and sugar, and glazed it. Super pretty top. I wish the photo had come out a bit better, it’s very yellow. Bad lighting and a very orange cheesecake! I really love mango in this form but want to kick it up a bit. I’m thinking some spices tossed into the crust, maybe some passionfruit. I also recently discovered the joy of homemade creme fraiche and have been wondering if that would be good in cheesecake instead of the traditional sour cream, or if it would just be a waste of a delicious topping.
