New York Cheesecake with a Mango Coulis

I love cheesecakes. Its my all- time favourite dessert. Is there anything better than a delectable creamy New York cheesecake? What about a cheesecake free from preservatives and the cream cheese is actually homemade? Sounds even better, and maybe too good to be true? Well now it isn’t. I’ve already shown you how to make your own cream cheese at home, and if you haven’t checked it out already, just follow the link here.

I wanted cream cheese that tasted great, didn’t cost me an arm and a leg and was customisable. So I came up with my own recipe instead. After the video was uploaded to YouTube , I was asked by many viewers whether we could make desserts with this recipe. I set out to come up with a video to show you guys just how easy it is to use the cream cheese to make a New York Cheesecake with a Mango Coulis. You all know how much I love feeding the kids healthy foods, keeping away from all those preservatives and E- numbers, so I made sure that the coulis was homemade too.

I just wanted to show you how easy it is to make something delicious from the ingredients you may just have laying around in the fridge. With mango season in full swing here, it was obvious I’d be using mangoes in the dessert. I have a few more mango desserts coming up, so make sure you check those out too.

Now let’s get cracking!

This recipe is very simple and great for little hands who want to help mix or pour. Get their hands dirty!

Preparation time 20 minutes

Bake time 1 – 1 hr 20 minutes

Serves 12

Ingredients

250 grams Digestive biscuits- in crumbs

140 grams Butter- melted

500 grams Cream Cheese- at room temperature

300 ml Sour cream

3/4 cup Sugar

3 Eggs

3 teaspoons Vanilla

1 teaspoon Lemon Zest

Mango Coulis

3 ripe mangoes- pureed

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1Tablespoon Corn Flour

Instructions

1- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius.

prepare the cheesecake base: combine the melted butter and biscuit crumbs in a bowl. Mix until the consistency resembles wet sand. Pour into a greased and lined 8 inch cake pan, with a removable bottom.

2- Press the crumbs down with a spatula or a cup until an even layer.

3- Chill the base in the fridge for 30 minutes, then bake at 180 Celsius for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.

4- Make the cheesecake filling: combine the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar. Beat only until combined.

5- Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix again until combined. Fold in the lemon zest.

6- Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the base

7- Tightly wrap the base of the cake pan in tin foil and set aside.

8- Put the cake pan in a large roasting pan and shift it to one side. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan, making sure the water doesn’t fall into the cheesecake. This prevents cracks from forming on top of the cheesecake.

9- Bake the cheesecake in the middle of the oven for an hour or until the cheesecake only slightly jiggles. The cheesecake will set in the fridge for half an hour.

10- Make the mango coulis: combine the mangoes, lemon juice, sugar and corn flour in a food processor. Process until combined.

11- Pour the coulis ingredients into a saucepan and cook on a low heat until thickened. It will only take a couple minutes to come together. If the mixture is lumpy, process again until smooth.

12- Pour the coulis on top of the cheesecake and cool in the fridge until set and cold.

Adaptations

Mixed berry coulis: replace the mangoes with 2 cups of frozen or fresh berries.

Strawberry coulis: replace the mangoes with 3 cups of strawberries