Without bragging, this is probably the best no-bake cheesecake you will ever eat, anchored to our cuisine through the mangoes, the lime, and the ginger. It feels like a trip away, and a return to your own back garden at the same time. It is rich but also incredibly light. A wonderful end to a meal. Keep this one in your back pocket for people you reeeally want to impress.

 

Ingredients

Crust:

300g (10.5oz) ginger snaps 

115g (4oz) melted butter

 

Filling:

800g (1lb 7oz) cream cheese

200ml (1/3 pint) double cream

½ pod vanilla (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

3 leaves fine leaf gelatine (or 3 tsp gelatine granules)

½ cup sugar

2 large limes, juiced

 

Topping:

2 large, sweet, juicy mangoes

1 thumb length of fresh ginger

1 tablespoon sugar (optional, only if needed)

 

Method

1. Line an 8-inch springform cake tin with greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Brush the sides of the tin with olive oil or a bit of butter. Make the crust by crushing the ginger snaps into crumbs, and mixing with the melted butter. Press this mixture evenly into the bottom of the tin and refrigerate briefly.
2. Onto the filling. Place the cream cheese, lime juice, sugar and vanilla pods in a large bowl and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer. Gently warm the double cream up and melt the gelatine in the warm liquid. Now add this warm gelatine to the overall cream cheese mixture and make, give it a good mix again with the hand mixer to make sure it is well combined. This is what sets the cheesecake so you want to make sure this is evenly dispersed. Gently spread the cream cheese mix over the crust, cover with cling film, and leave to set for 8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
3. For the topping, blitz mangoes and ginger in a food processor until smooth and pulpy. Store in a jar in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. 
4. To serve, transfer the cheesecake to a cake platter or board and then spread over a few spoonfuls of the mango and ginger topping. Garnish with lime slices and enjoy! 

Tip – any leftover mango topping tastes fabulous on toast or mixed in with yogurt, or on top of ice cream!

 

 

This recipe is from Season 1 Episode 1 of Minjiba Entertains, commissioned by The Africa Channel and showing on RealTime DSTV Channel 155, Emirates in-Flight Entertainment, Amazon Prime, and Demand Africa.