Mango & Cointreau Rare Cheesecake

Happy Mother’s Day! Singapore celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, like many countries do. It is a day to honour Mothers, and to show appreciation to the queen of our hearts. For the dinner and celebration tonight, I have prepared a simple cheesecake, with an alcoholic twist, of course ;P — the Mango and Cointreau Rare Cheesecake. The liqueur that I would like to feature this time round is Cointreau. It is a well-known brand for orange-flavoured liqueur produced in France with 40 percent ABV. The most famous cocktail using Cointreau would be the Margarita, I reckon. Margarita consists of tequila, Cointreau (or other types of orange liqueur), and fresh lime juice, often served with salt on the rim of the glass.

This mango cheesecake is more like a Japanese style rare cheesecake. It is a no-bake cheesecake, often with yogurt added to make it more nutritious. Unlike most recipe which calls for lemon juice, I tried using lime juice. Yes, you are right; I am trying to make a mango Margarita. Although both lemon and lime are from the citrus fruit family, lemon tends to give a sweeter note than lime. Moreover, lime gives a hint of bitterness to my cake, which could add depth to the flavour. So, let’s experiment and see how it turns out!

The cheesecake turned out to be a crowd-pleaser. Hooray! The citrusy scent of the cheesecake blended well with the mangoes, making it light and refreshing. Thanks to the Cointreau and lime juice.

Happy Sunday baking, everyone!

Ingredients (yield: one 8″ round or two 6″ round)

(A) Cookie base

Cheese crackers 120g
Butter, melted 70g

(B) Rare cheesecake

Cream cheese 250g
Cream 120g
Sugar 50g
Trehalose 10g
Yogurt (natural, sweetened) 80g
Mango puree 200g
Lime juice 25g
Gelatin leaves 10g
Cointreau 30g

(C) Mango Jelly Topping

Mango 2 no.
Mango puree 150g
Water 50g
Sugar 20g
Lime juice 15g
Gelatin leaves 5g
Cointreau 25g

Method:

1. Prepare a mousse ring. Bring the cream cheese back to room temperature. Bloom the gelatin in ice-cold water, and set aside.
2. To make the cookie base: Crush the crackers and mix in melted butter. Press crushed cookie mixture on the bottom of the cake ring. Refrigerate .
3. To make the cheesecake mixture: In the meantime, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in cream, sugar and trehalose. Mix well.
4. Add in yogurt, mango puree and lime juice. Mix well.
5. Melt the bloomed gelatin using microwave, but do not boil. Add in and mix well.
6. Add in Cointreau and mix well. Pour cream cheese mixture onto cracker crust. Refrigerate until firm.
7. When the cheesecake mixture has set, start preparing the mango jelly topping. Peel and slice the cheeks off a couple of mangoes, then slice those cheeks thinly width-wise.
8. Arrange slices of mangoes on the cheesecake.
9. In a saucepan, add in mango puree, water, sugar, and lime juice. Heat up the mixture to about 60 degrees. Add in bloomed gelatin and dissolve it.
10. Cool the jelly mixture to about 40 degrees. Mix in Cointreau.
11. Pour mango jelly over the sliced mangoes. Chill overnight or until firm.
12. Before serving, run a pairing knife around the rim of the mousse ring to release the cake. Decorate as desired, and serve chilled.