Mango Cheesecake

Its almost 12 years since I started baking actively. My food lover son is now 11 years old, and the fussy eater is almost 8 years. This is a cake we made for the dad of the house on his birthday last week. One bite into the cake and the whole family exclaimed - "This is the best cake you have ever made!".

I had been wanting to make this cake for almost a year ever since I saw a proper recipe in the internet. But yeah..everything has its own time. Without much blabbering, i am straight going into the recipe. Unfortunately I don't have the step by step pictures, but honestly this is a very simple recipe...which make me wonder what in the world made me take soo long to try out.

I made the cake in a 9 inch cake tin and hence the measurement is for the same. if you'd like to make it in 6 inch tin, please halve the recipe.

 Layer 1 (Base Layer) - Biscuit layer
    Marie biscuit - 180g
    Milk - 50 ml

Crush the biscuit using a ziplock bag and rolling pin. Mix it with milk to make a slightly wet mixture. Set it firmly in the cake tin using your hands. Cover with a cling film and place in the refrigerator.

Layer 2 & 3 - Mango cheese
   Cream cheese - 400g (I used Kiri's cheese cubes)
   Sugar - 60 g
   Milk - 60 ml
   Gelatin - 10 g
   Lemon zest - 1/2 tsp
   Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
   Whipping cream - 400 ml
   Sugar - 40 g
   Mango puree - 120 g

Mix the cream cheese & 60g sugar gently using a spatula till it becomes very soft.
In a separate bowl, add milk and gelatin. Gently double boil till the mixture thickens. Take it off the heat and once the mixture cools, add to the cream cheese mixture.
Add the lemon zest and juice to the mixture and combine well.
In a separate bowl whip the whipping cream with 40g of sugar till soft peaks forms.
Add the whipped cream gently to the cream cheese mixture. Mix well.
Now take one-third of the mixture into a separate bowl, cover it with a cling film and refrigerate.
In the remaining two-third mixture, add the mango puree and mix well.

Take out the cake tin (with just base layer now) and spread the mango cheese cake mixture evenly over the biscuit layer. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 20 min.

Afer 20 minutes, take out the cake tin and spread the cheese cake mixture (one-third minus addition of mango puree). Spread this evenly over the mango cheese cake. Cover and refrigerate for another 20 minutes.

Layer 4 - Mango Jelly
   Water - 60 ml
   Gelatin - 4 g
   Sugar - 20 g
   Mango Puree - 80 g

In a bowl, add water, gelatin and sugar. Mix well. In a double boiler, keep the bowl and stir well till the mixture thickens. Take the bowl out and allow to cool. Add the remaining mango puree to the gelatin mixture. Spread this evenly over the cheese cake mixture and refrigerate for couple of hours.

The beautiful mango cheese cake is ready to be served. You can decorate it with some mango cubes, fruits of your choice and some mint leaves.

Tip: It may be difficult to take out the cheese cake from cake tin once refrigerated. You can use a damp hot towel around the cake tin before opening up the tin. This will help to avoid cracks while opening the tin.

Cumin & Feta cheese crackers

I was so curious to try this recipe ever since I saw this in Sunita's World. They turned out to be delicious snack, with all the goodness of cheese in it. I need to have something salty , spicy with my tea - and this one was a perfect match.



Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups (or use a mix of wheat, raggi, arrowroot)
Feta cheese  -about 100 gm
Cumin - dry roast and grind coarsly
Salt - as per taste
Crushed chilly - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Crushed sunflower seeds - 1 tsp
Olive oil - about 5 tbsp
Baking soda (Bicarbonate of soda) - 1/3 tsp
Milk - 3/4 cup



Method

1. Sieve the flour with salt & baking soda. Mix in the crushed chilly, sesame seeds, crushed sunflower seeds & cumin.
2. Lightly crumble the feta cheese and add to the flour mixture. Gently mix with hand.
3. Now add olive oil & milk, little by little and mix with the finger tips till they all come together as a single ball. Don't over-do, just mix up everything together till they are moist.
4. Refrigerate for about 30 min. Then roll out the dough, into thin sheet (1/4 in thickness) and cut using a cookie cutter. Prick each one with a fork and arrange neatly in a baking tray
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg. Bake the cookies for about 20-22 min till they start to brown. Take them out of the oven and cool completely before storing them away in airtight containers.

Healthy cookies

These are my favorite cookies and I make at least one batch a week. My kids savor this during the snack time, and I allow them without any guilt, as they contain all nutritious stuff.



Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Raggi flour - 1/4 cup
Arrowroot powder(koovapodi) - 1/4 cup
Note : If raggi & arrowroot flour is not available, you can substitute with whole wheat flour, in which case, take 1.5 cups of wheat flour
Oats - 3/4 cup
Broken cashew - 2 tbsp (optional)
Chocolate chips - handful (brown or white) (optional)
Soft brown sugar - 3/4 cup (adjust as per your taste)
Sunflower oil - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Egg - 1
Water - 4-5 tbsp



Method

1. Sieve together wheat flour, raggi flour, arrowroot powder & the baking powder. Mix in the oats, cashew & chocolate chips. Keep it aside.
2. In a deep bowl, whisk together oil and egg. Slowly add in the brown sugar and mix well.
3. Now add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and combine well. If the mixture is thick, add water little by little. The consistency should be wet, but you should be able to make balls out of the mixture. If its difficult to handle at this stage, refrigerate the mixture for 1 hr
4. Take the mixture out, wet your hands and take a small ball of the mixture. Press it lightly on your palm and arrange it on a baking tray. Repeat till all the mixture is used up.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the tray in the middle rack and bake for about 20 min. Take it out when the sides starts to brown lightly. Enjoy warm or you can place them in an airtight container once cooled.

Instant (Rava/Oats) Idli

Idlis, that too instant - that was news to me. I am sure you would have experienced this too - get up in the morning and stare at the kitchen wall, not sure what to make for breakfast. There are not too many instant breakfast options for malayalees, its either upma or puttu, if banana is available. So this recipe is great help these days.




Ingredients


Rava / Semolina - 2 cups
Oats - 3/4 cup
Grated carrot - 3 tbsp (optional)
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)

Curd - 3/4 cup
Water -  as needed
Salt - as needed

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 2 tbsp
Urid dal - 1 tbsp
Broken cashew - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Green chilly - 1 tsp

Method

1. Heat oil in a wide pan. Splutter the mustard seeds. Then add channa dal, broken cashew & urid dal. Saute them till they turn light brown.
2. Add curry leaves & green chilly.
3. Now add the rava/semolina & oats and give it a good stir. Let the whole mixture get roasted for 2-3 minutes (no need to brown, just get it hot).
4. Switch off the stove, and let the mixture cool.
5. Once cooled, add curd, grated coconut & grated carrot. Add 1/2 cup water (always add water in batches). As the batter sits, it starts absorbing water. You will need to add more water. The thickness of batter should be as of idli batter.
6. Just before cooking, add enough salt.
7. Grease the idli impressions with little oil. Pour a ladle full of batter into each impression and steam for about 10 min. Serve hot with coconut chutney & sambar.

Jackfruit Cookies

I fail..I fail..I fail...to understand why these beautiful, tasty, nutritious cookies haven't adorned our bakeries till now. I tried this purely out of curiosity, just to know how it will turn out. Made a batch of just 15, but they were all gone in sometime..especially my little one - she loved it to the core. It had a mild jackfruit flavor (not overpowering at all). I will definitely be making it again. They tasted awsome with evening tea.



This time around I made using the freeze dried ripe jackfruit (Jackfruit 365). Next time, may be, I will use the jackfruit jam (chakka varatti) so that I can cut down on the sugar too.



Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups
Jackfruit pulp - 1/2 cup
Muscavado sugar - 3 tbsp
Sunflower oil - 1/4 cup
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Almond Slivers - 2 tbsp (optional)



Method

1. Sieve together wheat flour and baking soda. Keep it aside.
2. Mix together the jack fruit pulp and muscavado sugar. You can use normal white sugar too
3. To this mixture, add the sunflower oil and mix well with a spoon. Add almond pieces too.
4. Add the flour mixture in small batches, till all of it come together as a smooth dough.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg.
6. Take small lemon sized balls, place it on a baking sheet. Press slightly with a fork.
7. Bake for 10-12 min
8. Cool well before storing

 

Raggi / Finger Millet Cookies

Its been sometime since I have been trying to add this millet into our diet. I know people make puttu, idiyappam etc with its nutritious flour. But I wasn't very sure how my kids will take it. So thought of replacing whole wheat flour with raggi flour in a cookie recipe. And me being a DIY mom, am bit reluctant to buy the ready-made flour. So had to wait till the weekend to clean, wash, dry, grind, sieve the raggi so that I can make the cookies.

I personally prefer the whole wheat version of this to the finger millet version, But its been a huge hit with my kids, who finished the dabba in 2 days. And I am happy to pack this snack for the kids' snack box.



Here goes the recipe. This is a very basic and flexible recipe. You can play around with the ingredients like me, I added in chia seeds, almond slivers etc to make it super healthy.

Ingredients

Raggi / Finger Millet flour (very fine) - 2 cups (or you can use half whole wheat flour and half raggi flour)
Eggs - 2
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Dark Muscavado /brown / white sugar - 3/4 cups (check sweetness, add more if needed)
Oats - 1/4 cup
Sunflower oil - 1/2 cup (add in batches, you just need enough to bring the dough together)
Water - 2 tbsp (if needed)
Hershey's chocolate chips - 1/2 cups (optional)
Almond slivers - 2 tbsp (optional)
Chia seeds - 1 tbsp (optional)

 

 

 

Method

1. In a deep bowl, add the egg and lightly beat it.
2. Add the oil, muscavado sugar and mix well till it all mix together
3. Sieve or mix together flour, baking soda, oats.
4. Mix the chocolate chips, chia seeds, slivered almonds.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
6. Slowly add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, mix well using a wooden spoon, till it forms a homogeneous mixture. Check the sweetness, add more sugar if needed.
7. Prepare a cookie sheet (or aluminium foil), place a dollop of cookie mixture on this. Give enough space in between as once heated, it will start to space out. Its good to use a spoon to transfer the mixture to baking tray. Or wet your hand for scooping the mixture.
8.  Once the oven is hot, place the cookie tray into the oven and bake for about 10 min. 

Kappa Puzhungiyathum Mulaku Chammantheem (Boiled Tapioca with onion-chilly chutney)

This dish doesn't need an intro for a malayali. We all have tasted it atleast once in our lifetime and is one of our treasured dishes. Its simple, yet the taste outstanding.

Ingredients

Tapioca - 1 big (cut into big chunks)
Water - enough to cover the tapioca pieces
Salt  - as needed

Method

Cut tapioca into big chunks. Wash it well and add enough water and let it boil. When it starts boiling, add salt. Once the tapioca is cooked (check with a knife), drain water and keep aside.



Mulakuchammanthi (Onion-chilly chutney)

Ingredients

Small onion - 5-6
Kanthari mulaku - 2-3
Tamarind -  a very small piece (optiona)
Salt - as needed
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Method

Clean the small onions. Crush them together with chilly, salt and tamarinfd (if using). Once thoroughly crushed, remove this to a small bowl. Check salt and add the coconut oil. Mix well.