By Hetal Bulsara
@the_house_of_taste_ca
Local foodie and recipe creator, Hetal Bulsara is a gifted home cook and mother of two who tells a story with each recipe she creates. It is always exciting to have a new creator work with The Spice Merchant and with Hetal's food photography skills and delectable recipes she is no exception.
This recipe produces a heavenly cheesecake that’s creamy, flavourful and addicting. The size makes it a perfect bite. It’s really easy to make and tried and tested to be a crowd pleaser!
Yields: 12-15 mini cheesecakes
INGREDIENTS:
Crust
12 Graham crackers
2 1/2 tbsp Melted butter
2 tbsp Sugar
½ tsp Crushed (or powdered) Kerala Green Cardamom
Filling
300g Cream cheese (room temperature)
⅓ cup Mango pulp (available at Superstore or Walmart)
¾ cup Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Large egg (room temp)
2 Egg yolks (room temp)
2 tsp All purpose flour
1 tbsp crushed & peeled (or powdered) Kerala Green Cardamom
Topping (Optional)
Pinch of crushed & peeled Kerala Green Cardamom
230 ml Whipped cream
1/2 Cup Icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 Mango, sliced thinly
INSTRUCTIONS
Crust
Preheat the oven to 350C and prepare a cupcake or muffin tray with cupcake liners,
Use a processor or clear bag to crush the Graham crackers, then add the melted butter and stir until combined.
Place 1 ½ tablespoons in each cup, then press down using a small cup or shot glass until flat. Bake for 7 minutes.
Cheesecake
Lower oven temperature to 335C.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk cream cheese until it looks creamy (around 3-4 minutes), then with the speed on low, add sugar, salt, flour, cardamom, and mango pulp, mix further until combined (around 1 minute).
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing briefly on low until combined (1 minute).
Scoop 1 ½ tablespoon of the filling into each muffin cup, then top with a few petals and bake for 18-20 minutes. Tip: In the oven, you can also add boiling water in a tray on the rack below the muffin tray to avoid cracks or a slight dip in the middle, but this step is only for the perfectionists out there, they will still cook and taste great without this step!
Cool in the tray, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
After this stage you can enjoy the cheesecakes as they are or fancy them up with the topping! To make the topping whip the cream with icing sugar and the vanilla extract until fluffy.
Simply pipe or spread whipped cream over the top, add 3 sliced mango’s and sprinkle with crushed cardamom and rose petals!