No Bake Mango and Yogurt Cheesecake with Raspberries

Hello Indian summer! Anyone who grew up in India would agree that the only good thing about the summer is mangoes. Summers back home are stiflingly hot, humid and long and the one thing that helps most people get through it is the availability of mangoes aka the king of fruits. Confession- I am not one of those people, I know what you’re thinking but what can I say, citrus has always had my heart. Growing up if someone asked us what our favourite fruit is; most kids would pick exotic fruits like strawberries and cherries with a lot of them opting for mangoes and then there would me with the humble orange and you can guess the kind of looks I would get from the rest of the class. Now don’t get me wrong, I like mangoes just fine; I just don’t feel as strongly about it as the rest of the country.

This cheesecake though I feel very strongly about- it’s slightly adapted from my dragonfruit cheesecake recipe; here I subbed the cream for yogurt because let’s just cut calories wherever possible right and of course I used mangoes instead of dragonfruit. I used raspberries as well, just for a bit of colour and contrast but it’s totally optional and this mango cheesecake is absolutely delicious all by itself. I used ¾ cup of sugar because my mangoes weren’t the sweetest, if you have really sweet mangoes you can reduce the sugar to ½ cup but also keep in mind how sweet or sour the yogurt you are using is.

Lots happening in April and I can’t wait! I’ll be travelling for most of the month so I can’t promise updates this coming month but as soon as I can I will be back here, hopefully with lots of stories and pictures. So have a great summer everyone and make this simple and delicious cheesecake celebrating the beautiful mango.

Ingredients

• Mango pulp/puree (fresh)- 2 cups
• Cream cheese- 500 grams
• Greek yogurt- 1 cup
• Sugar- ¾ cup (can reduce to ½ cup if your mangoes are very sweet)
• Gelatin powder- 2 tbsp
• Water- 1/3 cup
• Raspberry puree (strained)- 2-3 tablespoons (optional)*

For the crust

• Marie biscuits- 250 grams
• Melted butter- ½ cup

Instructions

1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 or 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper/baking paper, (I forgot to do this). Crush biscuits to get fine crumbs; you can do this using a food processor/blender or put the biscuits in a zip lock bag and using a rolling pin or a heavy pan, crush the biscuits. Melt the butter; mix together the melted butter and biscuit crumbs and press evenly onto the base of the prepared pan. Chill in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
2. Pour water in a microwaveable/heat proof bowl; add the gelatin powder to the water. Heat the gelatin in a microwave or over a double boiler till it has dissolved. Keep aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if using a hand mixer;
   • add the cream cheese and beat for a minute,
   • add sugar and beat till fluffy, about 2 minutes,
   • add the yogurt, beat to combine,
   • add the mango pulp, mix well
   • add the gelatin and mix everything together.
4. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base in the prepared pan. Add small spoonfuls of raspberry puree on the surface of the cheesecake and create swirls using a skewer or toothpick, if you like.  Refrigerate the cheesecake and chill for at least 4-5 hours or overnight. If like me you didn’t line your pan with parchment paper, fret not, just run a sharp knife dipped in hot water all around edge to loosen the cheesecake from all sides.

*to make the raspberry puree, simply blend the raspberries in a blender and pour through a sieve to remove seeds, don’t add too much of it as it affect the gelatin in the cheesecake and as a result it won’t set properly.

Notes

• You can halve the quantity of the biscuit base for a thinner crust; I usually make a thicker base because that’s what my family likes.
• Digestive biscuits can also be used for the crust.
• Room temperature cream cheese is easier to beat and you can get it smooth and free of lumps with more ease.
• You can reduce the sugar to ½ cup if your mango pulp is very sweet.
• To get mango pulp- peel and cut the mangoes, add cut mango to a blender and process till you have a smooth puree/pulp.