What?!
I know what you’re probably thinking.
Dafuq is a froyo cheesecake ice cream cake? Is that frozen yogurt or cheesecake or ice cream or cake?
Well, it’s all of the above!
See, it’s my boyfriend’s birthday and he loves mangoes. I mean he will see mangoes and drool and the amount of saliva produced could drown you. Okay that’s kind of gross. Back to the cheesecake.
So I wanted to make a healthified no-bake mango cheesecake without using refined sugar or gelatin or heavy cream. After reading a couple of recipes I found off Google I decided to wing it and hope for the best (like I always do.. It’s such a bad habit. I suck at following recipes.) Well… The cheesecake didn’t firm up like it should and was still pretty runny despite being in the fridge for 24 hours. So I started to panic a little. What to do?
Then it hit me.
Freeze it and turn it into an ice cream cake!
It worked. So beautifully. I froze it for around 4 hours so it’s frozen but not rock hard, meaning you can still cut through it with a knife. It’s rich but has a slight tang from the lemon juice so it’s not sickeningly rich. And along with the mango sauce it’s simply divine. Trust me if you make this you’ll want to have the whole cake to yourself.
(Random rant on mangoes: I could not get a hold of fresh mangoes! Just one week ago they were everywhere. Literally every supermarket I went to, I saw mangoes. And today when I actually needed mangoes they’re ALL gone! Poof gone! The only place I managed to find a fresh mango was at King Street Grocer and there was only one pathetically looking, tiny, shriveled up mango left, and it was $5. Oh heck no I’m not paying $5 for you.. I ended up having to get canned mangoes in syrup.. I know. Yikes. But sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do ya know? /endrant)
Mango FroYo Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake
Crust:
1.5 C graham cracker crumbs
2 T milk
1.5 T olive oil
*Note: store bought graham crackers work fine. But if you prefer making it from scratch, or if like me you just can’t find any in the stores (Do Australians not eat s’mores?!), I made my own using this recipe.
1. Process graham crackers into fine crumbs in a food processor/ VitaMix.
2. Add milk and oil and process again so everything is nicely combined.
3. Press the crumbs down firmly using your hands in a springform pan. Chill in fridge for at least an hour. Meanwhile you can prepare the filling.
Cheesecake Filling:
500 g full fat cream cheese (room temperature)
1.5 C light greek yogurt
3/4 C lemon juice (around 2 lemons)
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C agave nectar/ maple syrup/ honey
Pinch of salt
1. In a food processor or VitaMix (or you could use a handheld mixer), process the cream cheese first to get rid of any potential lumps.
2. If using bottled lemon juice, skip this step. If using real lemon juice, strain it first to give your cheesecake a silky smooth texture.
3. Process everything along with the cream cheese until completely combined and smooth.
4. Taste and adjust sweetness. Resist urge to eat filling by the spoonful.
5. Pour filling into prepared crust. Put in freezer for at least an hour because pouring mango sauce on it.
*Note: if you want an actual cheesecake and not an ice-cream-cake-style cake, you can probably strain the greek yogurt first to make it thicker. Full fat greek yogurt will also be thicker than light ones. Alternatively, you can decrease the amount of yogurt and sub it with more cream cheese, although that obviously will also make this cake more fat- and calorie-dense.
Mango Sauce:
1 can (15oz) mangoes, drained
1 T cornstarch
3 t lemon juice
1. Blend drained mangoes in VitaMix until completely smooth.
2. Dissolve cornstarch in lemon juice.
3. Put everything in a pot and mix well. Cook for 10-15 minutes until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and stay put for >5 seconds).
4. Pour sauce over frozen cheesecake. Return cake to fridge to set for 3-4 hours. If you need to freeze it longer than that, just make sure you sit it in room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
5. Once it’s set, decorate as you please!
*I didn’t put sweetener in the sauce because the mangoes were in syrup so they’re already sweet enough. Add sweetener of choice if using canned mangoes without syrup or fresh mangoes.
(I have always wanted to take step-by-step photos, but I always forget to do so when I’m actually in the process of making something.. Oh well. Next time!)
nutellasum 