Mango Cheesecake and Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes for Mother's Day

Your arms were always open when I needed a hug. Your heart understood when I needed a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love has guided me and gave me wings to fly. ~Anon

Mother's day needed to be something very special..... What can be better than a special dessert made with her favourite fruit Mango n beautiful glasses.... I visited a special shop Tatsat, A Socially Conscious Store . It has all merchandise made by NGO's and a whole range of recycled products, bought mom a wallet, made of a Nestle milk tetra pack.

How can Mother's day celebrations be complete without all the mommies Nani, Mom, Perveez aunty, Mala Chachi and Geeta Chachi.

My yummy nani :)

Making Mango Cheese cake didn't complete the picture..... Daksayani came over to make Chocolate Cherry cupcakes for her mom....

She made this really sweet card and was prancing all around the kitchen and wanted to do everything herself and kept saying... I'm a big girl now... I can do it myself... This is for My Mummy... I will make it... :) How sweet is that.... :)))

While we were taking pictures... The excitement brimming and little imp dancing all aver and something just had to happen... The card was knocked over and headed straight for the chocolate icing ;)

Daksayani with her mommy n me... :)

Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Nani-Nami

Ingredients
6 large Egg Whites
250 g caster sugar
160 g plain/all-purpose Flour
1 heaped Tbsp Cornflour
1 tsp Baking powder
100 g melted Butter (just under a stick), slightly cooled
2 tbsp Cocoa
2 tbsp Coffee powder
12-15 Cherries Chopped (optionally, soaked in brandy)
2 tbsp Cherry preserve

Method:
1. Whisk the egg whites with 2 Tbsp of sugar until thick and pale and very foamy.
2. Mix the rest of the sugar with Flour, Coffee, Cocoa, Cornflour and Baking powder, then sift into the egg mixture and fold in gently.
3. Finally fold in cool melted butter and Cherry preserve.
4. Pour the batter into cupcakes, sprinkle chopped Cherries and bake in a pre-heated 180 C oven for 30-40 minutes. Test for doneness with a wooden toothpick.
5. Cool slightly before turning out of the cake tin.
Mango Cheesecake
variation from my earlier Mango Cherry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
250 ml Cream[whipped]
50gm Hung Curd
100gm Mascarpone creamcheese
100gm Fruit Pulp [I used mango, you can use orange, strawberries or any other fruit you fancy, taste the pulp for tartness and adjust taste with powdered sugar]
40 gms Gelatin [in winter 1 reduce it by 2-3 pinches as it sets just fine]
Few Chocolate chips for sprinkling at the base
Few drops of Mango essence
Few mint leaves for garnishing

Method:
1. Whip the Cream to soft peaks.
2. Mix in the hung Curd, Mascarpone and whip to a silky consistency and add a few drops of Mango essence.
3. Bloom half the Gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
4. After it's completely dissolved, pour into the above mixture and mix well, whisking continuously.
5. Sprinkle Chocolate chips at the glass's base and pour the above mixture into the glass evenly.
6. Refrigerate for about an hour.[more in summers till it sets]
7. Bloom rest of the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
8. Add the gelatin to fruit pulp and mix well.
9. Make a layer of this fruit pulp over the set cheesecake layer in the glasses working quickly else the gelatin begins setting.
10. Garnish with Fresh Fruit / Chocochips/ Mint leaves.


We've had some really crazy times with mom... festivals together, see the crazy side in us, partying and having loads of fun together.... Missed having Chetan and Nivritti around... Would have been even more fun...

Making this Mango cheesecake was such a delight for mom... She loved it and even the card and gift :)

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mom's...

Mango Buttermilk Cake for Geetu's Birthday

Today is Geetika's birthday, my cousin sister...... Happy Birthday Sis :) We fondly call her Geetu...... We've had loads of fun growing up and at weddings of cousins....

She stays in Jaipur ans was visiting Delhi at the same time as my brother Chetan from Australia and Gautam was over from Mumbai....... We gave her a surprise by landing up at Kanika's(Geetu's sibling) place in Gurgaon at some 1am with a Mango Cake.

It was so much fun meeting up after 5-6 months... We catchup from where we left off..... All of us put together is a Mad-Mad-Mad party... :)

Poor Gautam had such a long day.... Up since 4 am and on his feet till 3am the next day and beyond cause he got locked out of his cousin's house where he was suppose to spend the night... It was hilarious..... We tried waking up Abhinav(Gautam's cousin) from the window and ended up waking his parents n the neighbours at some 3am.... still laughing at how funny it was....

Geetu's an extremely talented person who along with working with her dad also paints and makes candles..... A glimpse of her work...

I decided to make her a Mango Buttermilk Cake made out of real mango pulp and not any synthetic essence. This picture may look like I've done some photoshop work on it.... But believe me.... The mangoes were so luscious n pulpy that I didn't have to do any processing on the pictures... They are just-as-they-were-clicked.

Mango Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from Bright Morning Star

Mango Custard
[I halved the quantity of these to get 1 tin]

Ingredients:
5 yolks + 2 whole eggs
2 cups sugar [ d mangoes i used were pretty sweet, so if using tart mangoes you may need to decrease or increase as per taste]
75 grams salted + 50 unsalted,at room temperature [ you could use all unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt ]
3 cups mango puree with juice of 1 little lime.


1. Simmer a large pan of water

2. Place a glass/ steel bowl[that fits into the pan just right to make it a double boiler] with 1 cup of sugar and 100 gms of butter [ mix of both if using both]. Simmer whisking well till butter and sugar dissolves.

3. Whisk till sugar dissolves and cool a bit.

4. Add 5 well whisked egg yolks and 2 whole eggs to the puree and whisk away.

5. Add to the butter and sugar and whisk again and Keep the bowl back on the flame on the pan of simmering water.

6. Keep stirring till its real thick and sticks well to the spoon and it took me almost 2 hours for this quantity.
But you could keep it directly in the pan , instead of double boiler, but never let it boil , and let the flame be really low. Watch it carefully.

7. The consistency , will be thicker than that of Lemon curd, clings very thickly to the spoon.
Almost Custardy than liquidy and very wobbly , as if its set kinda.

How to check its Done?
What i did,and it quite worked ,is that, pop in a few little bowls in the freezer when u begin , and as and when u think its getting done, heap a nice Teaspoon full into the bowls and pop back in the freezer for a few seconds:-)
Well check the consistency and flav, and yeah u can add a bit more sugar if u want too ,too:-))

Mango Buttermilk Cake
[I halved the quantity of these to get 1 tin]

Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/2 cup for sprinkling
4 large eggs [or 6 if u skip the mango curd]
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract [i used 3 whole vanilla beans]
Finely grated zest of 4 lemons (for lemon cake, but i do love what it did to the mango cake]
Juice of 1 lemon (for lemon cake-optional]
1.5 cups Buttermilk
1.5 cups Mango chunky mango bits with juice
[as i chopped a few mangoes, i had pieces from the cups and thick puree from the seeds]
3/4 cup mango curd



Mia's Notes
~~~this quantity makes quite a bit of cake, i halved it and still had lods of cake
~~~if making a few cuppys too, tip the tops with some mango Curd ...delicious!
~~~love the crust that forms atop with the sprinkled sugar:-)
~~~the original called for 6eggs but since i had mango curd ,i cut it down to 4:-))

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two 10-inch round cake pans.
[I buttered a heart shaped cuppy cake too.[post coming up later for this one :) ]
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2.In another bowl, cream the butter and 4 1/2 cups of sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla or scrape the vanilla seeds into the batter.
Add the lemon zest and juice and the cubed mango pieces and puree mash.

3.Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and mango curd.
Scrape batter into prepared cake pans.
A few cakes , were half filled, a mango slice/puree in between and then covered with batter again!

4.Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the sugar on top of the batter or a mango slice if u want too or both! [I didn't do this as the mangoes were already very sweet]

Bake until set, when a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean (about 1 hour).

5.Let the cakes cool in their pans, and then invert them onto a rack.

Delicious and butterly so.....flavor sure develops the next day, as per Rashmi Aunty(Geetu's mom) who ate it in Jaipur the next day.

A buttery mango batter with a layer in between and topped with mango mango batter and some mango curd.
This wonderfully crumbly and textured cake is sure to make any Mango loving person go into raptures of delight....

Happy Birthday, Geetu..... All the best.....

Mango Cherry Cheesecake and Mango Verrines ~ Mango Mania

Mango... Mango and More Mango.... The KING of fruits....Am a total mango fan.... Guess you can see that even in my Daring Baker Pavlova.. :) The juice, flavor, fragrance and color of Mango... all of it drives me crazy.... The ones I've had every year in all my summer holidays are Dussheri, Chosa, Langra, Alphonso, Banganpalli, Beneshan, Himsagar, Safeda, Totapuri, all from various parts of India.

The important commercial varieties are as : [Source: APEDA]

Andhra Pradesh Banganapalli, Suvarnarekha, Neelum and Totapuri Bihar Bombay Green, Chausa, Dashehari, Fazli, Gulabkhas, Kishen Bhog, Himsagar, Zardalu and Langra Gujarat Kesar, Alphonso, Rajapuri, Jamadar, Totapuri, Neelum, Dashehari and Langra Haryana Chausa, Dashehari, Langra and Fazli Himachal Pradesh Chausa, Dashehari and Langra Karnataka Alphonso, Totapuri, Banganapalli, Pairi, Neelum and Mulgoa Madhya Pradesh Alphonso, Bombay Green, Dashehari, Fazli, Langra and Neelum Maharashtra Alphonso, Kesar and Pairi Punjab Chausa, Dashehari and Malda Rajasthan Bombay Green, Chausa, Dashehari and Langra Tamil Nadu Alphonso, Totapuri, Banganapalli and Neelum Uttar Pradesh Bombay Green, Chausa, Dashehari and Langra West Bengal Fazli, Gulabkhas, Himsagar, Kishenbhog, Langra and Bombay Green

These mangoes come all thru the summer in batches...
[Source: www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/]
Early:
'Bombay Yellow' ('Bombai')–high quality
'Malda' ('Bombay Green')
'01our' (polyembryonic)–a heavy bearer.
'Pairi' ('Paheri', 'Pirie', 'Peter', 'Nadusalai', 'grape', 'Raspuri', 'Goha bunder')
'Safdar Pasand' 'Suvarnarekha' ('Sundri')

Early to Mid-Season:
'Langra' 'Rajapuri'

Mid-Season: 'Alampur Baneshan'–high quality but shy bearer
'Alphonso' ('Badami', 'gundu', 'appas', 'khader')–high quality
'Bangalora'('Totapuri', 'collection', 'kili-mukku', abu Samada' in the Sudan)–of highest quality, best keeping, regular bearer, but most susceptible to seed weevil.
'Banganapally' ('Baneshan', 'chaptai', 'Safeda')–of high quality but shy bearer
'Dusehri' ('Dashehari aman', 'nirali aman', 'kamyab')–high quality
'Gulab Khas' 'Zardalu' 'K.O. 11'

Mid- to Late-Season:
'Rumani' (often bearing an off-season crop)
'Samarbehist' ('Chowsa', 'Chausa', 'Khajri')–high quality
'Vanraj' 'K.O. 7/5' ('Himayuddin' ´ 'Neelum')

Late:
'Fazli' ('Fazli malda')–high quality
'Safeda Lucknow'

Often Late:
'Mulgoa'–high quality but a shy bearer
'Neelum' (sometimes twice a year)–somewhat dwarf, of indifferent quality, and anthracnose-susceptible.

A Comfort Food. Mangoes really can make you feel better! Beyond being delicious and rich in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, mangoes contain an enzyme with stomach soothing properties similar to papain found in papayas. These comforting enzymes act as a digestive aid and can be held partially responsible for that feeling of contentment we experience during and after our daily mango ritual. Yes, it is quite natural to crave those mangoes!at cuisinecuisine.com

Making Cheesecake is the easiest thing done with mangoes, which comes a second to just slicing and eating them :)

Some other cheesecakes I've done with a similar recipe are with Banana and Chocochips, Cappuccino Tiramisu With kahlua, Cappuccino Tiramisu With Irish Bailey's, Orange and Strawberry(not posted yet).
Mango Cheesecake

Ingredients:
For The Base:
1/2 packet Glucose Biscuits [abt 100gms]
60 gm Butter [softened, not melted]
20gm grain Sugar
Handful of Cherries halfed [Fresh would be nicer, if not available then use tinned]

For The Cheesecake:
250 ml Cream[whipped]
150gm Hung Curd
100gm Fruit Pulp [I used mango, you can use orange, strawberries or any other fruit you fancy, taste the pulp for tartness and adjust taste with powdered sugar]
40 gms Gelatin [in winter 1 reduce it by 2-3 pinches as it sets just fine]
Few drops of Mango essence
Method:
For the base:
Crush the glucose biscuits finely [not to powder]
Bind them together with the softened butter till the mixture is course. [I use the back of a spoon, you could use ure hand if you like]
Place this on the base of the dish in which you want to make the cheesecake and serve.
garnish the base with cherries [I arranged it in a way that all pcs cut would have atleast 1 cherry each]
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.


For the Cheesecake:
Whip the cream to soft peaks.
Mix in the hung curd and whip to a silky consistency.
Add a few drops of mango essence.
Melt half the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
After it's completely dissolved, pour into the above mixture and mix well.
Take out the Refrigerated base, pour the above mixture into the bowl over the base evenly.
Refrigerate for about an hour.[more in summers till it sets]

Melt rest of the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
Add the gelatin to fruit pulp and mix well.
Make a layer of this fruit pulp over the set cheesecake layer in the bowl working quickly else the gelatin begins setting.
Garnish with fresh fruit or chocochips.

Mango Verrines:
Use the above 2 mixtures of the cheesecake and fruit to layer alternatively in small shot glasses. You could even use dessert bowls but I love these little single serves.


These yummies were taken to office and we celebrated a small reunion of sorts as Mike was in town. The bowl was licked clean by the boys... Nitin kept eating the fruit layer from the top of he bowl and was whacked by the rest :)
Madhurima took the bowl home to enjoy with her family... [Some of the nicest pics in this ost are taken by her :) see her work at www.madhurimasil.com]
Aman had the shot glass single serve...

Verdict:
Sweet levels were just fine and the flavours of Mango and Cheery gave the dessert a fresh feel.... This recipe is such a simple No-Bake recipe that even kids can make it with a little help from the adults during the gelatin part.

Chocolate Pavlovas n Mango Mascarpone Mousse - Daring Baker Challenge

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova, colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner. The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Where it was created and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but research indicates New Zealand as the source. The dessert is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both countries, and is frequently served during celebratory or holiday meals such as Christmas lunch. [Souce wikipedia]

Anna Pavlova was considered the greatest ballerina of her time and her visit to New Zealand has been described as "the chief event of 1926." It was said "She does not dance; she soars as though on wings." From this you get the sense that this is a light, airy dessert.

It was again that time of the month ,the posting date deadline of the challenge loomed thick n large, I had not gotten any preparation done.....Had read the recipe many times over on the daring bakers forum n thought, this is just too fantastical to achieve.... Like my friend Snigdha said 'I believe in signs.... signs from God'..... My sign was Nigella's show on TV, where she made the Passion Fruit Pavlova[couldn't get the video of that episode, here's another where she's making a pav] on Friday. I thought to myself, better get to this done on the weekend... Sticking to my determination, on Saturday, I made the Meringue and then went out to meet my college friends for a reunion after some 7 years of leaving college.... not that we don't meet up..... but this one had a lot more friends that the ones we would meet regularly.....
We had loads of Fun at 'Toast' in West Gate Mall, with Suryaveer singing for us our favorite songs and making the evening very lively....

On Sunday, I set about assembling the rest of the pav. The unbearable heat made this a very daunting task as I was workig with cream and eggs. The heat was making everything runny.....

Download printable .pdf file HERE
Recipe 1: Chocolate Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.

2. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)

3. Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)

4. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. (Class made rounds, hearts, diamonds and an attempt at a clover was made!)

5. Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe 2: Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone (don't forget we made this a few months ago - get the printable .pdf HERE)
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

Directions:

1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

3. Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.

Recipe 3: Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling):

Ingredients:
1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional)
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Directions:
1. Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool.
2. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed.
3. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Recipe 4: Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream above):

Ingredients:
1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

Directions:
1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.

2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.

3. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Assembly:
Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.

Changes I made:
3 eggs would have been a pav[pun intended :)] bit much :) Made it with 1 egg and scaled the recipe down accordingly.
Added a pinch of 'Crean of Tartar' to the meringue mixture for the crispy texture...
Summer is the season for Kind of Fruits M-A-N-G-O..... just had to flavor the mascarpone with Mango... topped with chocolate.
Instead of making 1 thick pavlova cake... did smaller shapes, hence got this thin crispy meringue.

Verdict:
Crispy meringue... would agreed with it being called a Forgotten dessert[only during cooking] and totally Un-Forgettable dessert while eating..... very yummy :)
Mango n Chocolate together was a nice fusion of flavors...
Crispy meringue + Smooth Mango + Chocolate topping = Will surely make it again....


Thanks for the wonderful challenge Dawn.