Deconstructed Mango Cheesecake

About a few weeks' ago, as mango season came to an end, I scored a crate of mangoes for the grand price of $5. I wasn't sure what to do with all of them, but I just knew that this was too good a bargain to pass up. (But believe me, I got my fair share of weird stares as I walked back into my student accommodation carrying 13 mangoes in a giant crate.) But such good deals don't come by everyday, and surely I'll find a way to use them all. 

Fast-forward a week, and I have more mangoes ripening in my room faster than I can eat. One friend recommended cutting some of the riper mangoes up and freezing them, which I did (and can attest that they tasted just fine when defrosted), but I still had some lovely mangoes hanging around my room. And there's only so many mangoes I can eat in a day. 

Fortunately for me, a friend made a delicious mango cheesecake in the same week, and sent me the recipe. I had an half-opened container of heavy cream lying around in my freezer from another baking project (yes, it's perfectly fine to freeze cream. Just let it thaw out a bit before you start baking). I love cheesecakes, but their richness usually get to me after a slice. Because I had so much mango left-over, I upped the mango content in the recipe, which made the final dessert softer and more mousse-like than the traditional dense, sliceable cheesecake. This recipe looks pretty fancy-looking, and the best part is that every component can be made beforehand and assembled just before serving, for a perfect stress-free dessert.

Cheesecake Base 

Adapted recipe, original from David Lebovitz's Crisp Topping Recipe. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup (105 g) flour

2/3 cup (90 g) coarse semolina/polenta

3/4 cup (80 g) almonds or walnuts

1/2 cup (90 g) packed light or dark brown sugar (or cassonade)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

nice pinch of salt

4 ounces (1 stick, 115 g) unsalted butter, well-chilled

Steps

Preheat oven to 180 C.

In a blender or food processor, pulse flour, polenta, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until the nuts are in smaller pieces.

Cut the butter into chunks and pulse in the machine until the butter is finely broken up and the mixture no longer looks sandy and is starting to stick and clump together.

Distribute crisp topping evenly onto a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes, stirring the topping midway and breaking up any large clumps. 

Note: 
You can store the mixture in a zip-top freezer bag for a month or two, or refrigerate it for up to one week. If the topping clumps together in the freezer, it's fine to use a fork to break up the pieces, and toasting them lightly back in the oven. 

The original recipe calls for polenta, but I prefer semolina's texture.

Mango Cheesecake Recipe

Adapted from Mum2boys' recipe on allrecipes

Ingredients

250g cream cheese, softened

75g (3/8 cup) caster sugar

150ml thickened cream

1 - 1 1/2 ripe mangoes, sliced

1/2 teaspoon finely-grated lime rind (optional)

Directions

Place mango pulp in a food processor and Process until smooth. Set aside. 

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and lime rind. Beat for 2 minutes. Add cream. Beat for 5 minutes or until mixture is thick. Combine with mango pulp and refrigerate mixture until firm.

Picture by R