Cakes, cakes, cakes!: September 2011

Mango cheesecake with raspberry puree and a walnut crust

For Eli's 23rd birthday, I decided to drive to Waltham to wish him a proper birthday. The week before, I had an incredibly packed schedule. Luckily, I had been planning his birthday cake for weeks, so I didn't have to quickly figure something out. The night before I left, I decided to bake the cake and then drive it to his house instead of baking it when I got there. It was my first time making a cheesecake! It was a good decision to make it the night before, though, because cheesecake needs to be refrigerated overnight anyway.

I knew I had to incorporate mango into Eli's cake no matter what. It's his favorite fruit! I had a list of things that I knew he'd like, most of which were fruit. I finally decided on a mango cheesecake when I found recipes online with great reviews.

I went to the Rochester Public Market and picked up some raspberries and mangoes. I knew they wouldn't last until I was ready for them almost a week later, so I threw them in the blender separately and pureed away. I then stuck them in the freezer. This worked out great, and it has encouraged me to puree and freeze the fruit I have that might be going bad soon.

I adapted my recipe from epicurious. In the crust, I added finely chopped walnuts (done in my blender). Walnuts are one of Eli's favorite things, and I had been making maple-honey walnuts for him. I also had a deeper pan, so I added to the baking time. To make the cake taste a little bit more like mango, I poured the extra puree over the top of the cake before baking it and swirled it in. The swirl really helped add a mango flavor to the cheesecake. After the cake had baked and cooled (and traveled 400 miles in my trunk), I poured raspberry puree over the top. It was pure raspberry, so it added just the right amount of sweetness without giving it too much! After a night of sitting on the cake, the raspberry puree soaked in a little, increasing the flavor and moisture of the cake.