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Recipe for the Week – Eggless Mango Cheesecake (Baking Partners Challenge #9)

11:51:00 am


I’ve been missing for some days, haven’t I?? Blame it on the endless weddings happening around me!! There are about 2-3 weddings every week, and they all insist the guests participate in all the functions – so do the math and calculate the number of biryani I’ll end up eating!! It’s playing havoc with my healthy diet, although I do restrict the number of invites I attend J.

Coming to this month’s Baking Partner’s Challenge – it’s something I’ve been wanting to try for quite some time – Cheesecake without cream cheese! Where I live, it’s extremely rare to find cream cheese on supermarket shelves, and even if it’s available, the price is a putoff. So this recipe’s paneer-hung curd combo has worked like a dream!!


The original recipe is from Divine Taste, and I’ve followed it to the T. I don’t have much experience with cheesecake, so I didn’t dare experiment much J.

What you’ll need:

For the Crust:

160 g digestive biscuits crushed (I used Britannia)
100 g salted butter, softened and cut into cubes

For the Cheesecake Filling:

160 g powdered sugar
800 g thick yogurt (I used Milky Mist)
400 g Paneer (I used Milky Mist)
375 ml water
15 g China Grass (I used Bakers)
1 cup of mango puree
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Mango Glaze:

½ cup mango puree
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lime juice

What you’re going to do:

Overnight Prep:

Place the yogurt in a muslin cloth placed in a colander, over a bowl and let it drain overnight. By morning, you should get about 400 g of thick, creamy hung curd.


Note: I used low fat curd (mistake), and so I ended up with about 300 g of hung curd. I went ahead anyway without any major disasters J.

For the Crust:

1. Break the biscuits into pieces and grind them to a powder. Drop in the butter and process again till well combined.


2. Remove the mixture and press it evenly into the base of an 8” deep round springform pan. Chill in the fridge for half an hour.


For the Cheesecake Filling:

1. Break the china grass into small pieces and soak in 375 ml water for about 10 minutes till soft.


2. Squeeze the paneer to get rid of all the excess water. In a blender jar, process the paneer and hung curd till smooth and creamy. Transfer this mix to a large bowl.

3. In a saucepan, heat the mango puree over a medium flame, without letting it boil.


4. In another saucepan, place the softened china grass-water mix and stir on low heat till completely melted, for about 5-6 minutes. Do not let it boil.


5. Pour this hot melted china grass solution into the hot mango puree, stirring continuously. Both mixtures need to be very hot. Slowly add this mango mix into the yogurt-cheese mixture.

6. Stir in the sugar and vanilla, and whisk well till completely blended.


7. Pour this mixture over the prepared crust, level with a spoon and chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or till firm.



For the Mango Glaze:

1. Place all the ingredients for the glaze in a saucepan and cook over medium heat.

2. When it begins to boil, reduce the flame and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more. Allow to come to room temperature.

3. Spread the glaze over the cheesecake with a spoon. Allow the glaze to set over the cheesecake for 2 to 3 hours or more. 


4. Carefully take the cake out of the spring form pan and slice and serve.


All done!! I admit, it does require a bit of prep work – hanging the curd, peeling, chopping and pureeing mangoes. Also, pureeing the paneer and curd took some time for me, as also melting the china grass. But the best part is that this is a great dessert for a party, which can also be made ahead!! Even though I was 100 g short of hung curd, my cheesecake turned out quite soft and delish, although I found the glaze a little too tart for my taste. Maybe next time, I’ll skip the lime juice.


My cheesecake set perfectly well, but the glaze dripped a little on slicing. Not that I’m complaining much J.



This is a perfect dessert for this season, when mangoes are abundant. You may use more sugar if you’d like, but I had perfectly sweet mangoes to begin with, so didn’t need more. This recipe gives you a pretty big cake, so I shared with our neighbors and extended family. Everyone loved it, though my brother wasn’t a big fan of the glaze, like me J. Now that I’ve found a way to replace the cream cheese, a thousand opportunities have just opened up!! Check out other bloggers’ cheesecake versions here!



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41 comments

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you, Vidhya!! Thankfully, I managed to get some really bright colored, luscious mangoes!!

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  2. I'm always looking for eggless dessert recipes and this one is great.. will definitely try it out.. love the range of topics covered on your blog.. following you on GFC. Do drop by mine.

    http://thetimesofmanyphases.blogspot.in/2013/04/eat-pray-and-shop-2-day-trip-to-amritsar.html

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Rajvi!!! Yup, being eggless is another reason for this being a universal party favorite!! I've checked out your space too - you're quite the versatile blogger yourself!!

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  3. Looks delicious.Well explained recipe.

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  4. A stunner desert ..Love the colours on your cheesecake.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Amrita!! That's one of the perks of working with fruits - all the lovely colors!!

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  5. your cheesecake looks delicious.. and know what the glaze dripping from the sides makes it look even more pretty and luscious.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Tanu!! Yes, I agree, I love photos of syrups and glazes dripping down a cake :-)

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  6. Delicious mango cheesecake, Fabida you did very well.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Swathi!!! I have overcome my fear of making cheesecakes now :-)

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  7. Have never tried a cheesecake but considering your kit kat inspired cake got me loads of love I am going to try my hand on this one too!! That looks so tempting Fab!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Swapna!! Yup, the Kit Kat cake is definitely impressive, it's hard to believe how easy it is!

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  8. Hey Fab..I haven't been over to yr blog for a while and really missed yr writing! I love this recipe and I must say the end result looks absolutely mouth watering!!
    Will try it out but I doubt if I will get any close to your lovely cake:-)

    Love
    K
    klassystylefiles.blogspot.com.au

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Kalyani!! This is actually a pretty fool proof cake - there isn't much to get wrong, even though it requires a bit more prep than a simpler cake. Do try it out!

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  9. woooooooow Nice Food Really I Impress Your Food....

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  10. Looks delicious. Love your step by step pics.

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  11. it looks yummy and super delicious, I wanna have it too.

    the recipe has been put down so well, definitely going to try it

    www.styledestino.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much!! Do let me know how it turns out!

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  12. This is yummy. But where can we get china grass? Is it easily available?
    I love anything with mangoes and this is not very fattening either.

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    Replies
    1. China grass is available in most supermarkets - it also goes by the name of 'Agar agar'. A common brand is Bakers. Yup, I used low fat curd, and it didn't really make a big difference - it was good all the same!!

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  13. OMG, looks so yum!! And mango is my favorite fruit! Gotta try this ASAP! Hope you are having a wonderful day!
    -Jyoti
    Style Delights Blog
    Enter $40 giftcard giveaway by Lorraine Tyne

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    Replies
    1. This is the perfect cool summer dessert for mango lovers :-). Let me know once you try it out!

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  14. looks absolutely lipsmacking Fab, I am drooling right now, i loveeee mangoes!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Poonam!! With your cooking and baking expertise, this should literally be a 'piece of cake'!!

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  15. looks absolutely lipsmacking Fab, I am drooling right now, i loveeee mangoes!

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  16. Hi dear, i am first time here. your cheese cake is inspiring me to try this out. i am always has bad dreams that my cheese cake fall apart. hehehe.

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    Replies
    1. Ha ha, I had nightmares about my macarons turning out wrong, which unfortunately came true :-(. You don't have to worry about this, it's pretty much failproof :-)

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  17. Lovely dessert, a must try for me.
    Visit my blog when u have time

    rknk-musings.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by, Ramya!! I'll definitely check out your space :-)

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  18. Your cheesecake is so pretty! :)

    toddlindsey.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Lindsey!! That's a great advantage in using fruit in dessert!

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  19. OMG OMG OMG!! How in the world did I miss this post?! Another recipe to try!

    Neelu

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    Replies
    1. Glad you liked it! Do let me know how it goes :-)

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  20. So making this!

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  21. Wow this looks absolutely Delicious!! 1st time to ur space and now following u!!
    Also visit me at my space Recent Post Instant Dates Pickle

    ReplyDelete