Mango mascarpone coconut cheesecake

On the roads back to Sydney there were numerous signs for trays of mangoes. Now, let me tell you, mangoes are my absolute, absolute favourite. Yum! We bought a tray of gorgeous mangoes for $10. Nothing compared to Sydney prices, let alone the prices I used to see when I lived in Europe at this time of year.

With absolutely nothing to do on my holidays other than swim, eat, drink and sleep I bought myself a library of magazines to entertain myself. The Gourmet Traveller, had this cake on the cover. Had me at hello!

And, I had the perfect dinner party for which to make it.

We arrived back from our trip after a day of driving on Saturday evening. I rushed off to the supermarket to buy the ingredients and everything else we needed. I began preparing the cake. I didn’t think would take me too long. Knee deep in mangoes I was informed we were already late for the concert we were going to that night. I put lids on everything and scooted out. I returned home later that evening, very tired and rather tipsy and continued where I left off. Finally I thought I was done and it was time for bed, when I realised it had to be refrigerated for 2 hours before I could pour on the final layer!

I went to bed and set my alarm for 2 hours later. Somehow I dragged myself out of bed and poured the jelly layer on to set overnight.

The following morning I was to scared too look. In my sleepy daze I recalled the last time I poured jelly on top (of the Strawberry Mirror Cake) and it seeped through and went everywhere, so this time I put the pan on a plate. That morning, I had visions of the springform being on the plate crooked and all the jelly pooled on one side. Tony eventually coaxed me into it and it was fine. More than fine in fact, it was a good looker and delicious!

190 grams butter, softened
110 grams brown sugar
110 grams (¾ cup) plain flour
110 grams desiccated coconut

Mango jelly
500 grams mangoes, coarsely chopped (3 – 4 mangoes)
100 grams caster sugar
20ml lemon juice
1 tsp gelatine

Mascarpone mousse
750 grams mascarpone
2 tbsp finely grated lemon rind
2 tbsp milk
¾ tsp gelatine
4 egg yolks
110 grams (½ cup) caster sugar
25ml lemon juice

Start with the mango jelly - combine mango with a 1 litre of water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes until pulpy and fragrant. Puree using a hand-held blender or food processor, and strain through a fine sieve. You need 400ml, discard the pulp. Combine liquid with sugar in a clean saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and stir through lemon juice. Sprinkle on the gelatine and stir to dissolve. Stand until cool.

Next the base - preheat oven to 180C. Cream 140gm butter and 80gm brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the flour and coconut and stir to the butter and sugar mix. Transfer to a baking paper lined oven tray and press out to approx 1cm-thick rectangle and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake this for 1015 minutes or until golden, and cool completely. Break the coconut biscuit into a food processor and process till finely ground. Melt remaining butter and add to food processor with the remaining sugar. Transfer to springform pan, lined with baking paper and press the mix to form the base and refrigerate for 1 hour.

The mascarpone mousse - combine mascarpone and lemon rind in a bowl, folding gently. Heat milk in a saucepan over low heat to just below simmering point. Sprinkle the gelatine on and stir to dissolve. Allow to stand for 5 minutes to cool, and add the to mascarpone mix. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water for 5 minutes (until thick and pale) and carefully fold through mascarpone mixture. Spoon over crumb base, smooth top and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Lastly, pour mango jelly over mascarpone mixture and refrigerate overnight or until firm.
To serve, remove cake pan ring and scatter cake with shaved coconut.

S