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Mango Cheesecake using Paneer (Cottage Cheese) - Abby's Hearth

Mango Cheesecake using Paneer (Cottage Cheese)

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5 out of 5 Stars by 6 readers!

This delicious no-bake Mango Cheesecake is an awesome paneer dessert to beat the summer heat! So soft and creamy, it’s perfect for my vegetarian friends!


Who can say no to the mango, known as the King of Fruits in India? Every year, the only reason one waits for summer is so they can relish this delicious fruit, or so said my sis Sarah. No one wants to deal with the heat and the humidity, but give us mangoes and we’re happy for a little while! Come the month of May and everyone is making something from mangoes. We do our bit too! We make the raw mango kadmat salad, mango lime pickle, mango murabba or chunda, mom’s shortcut mango ice cream, and of course this mango cheesecake.

Of course, there was a time when we just gorged on mangoes. Granddad grew mangoes on his farm. I remember as a kid going over to his home to see the crop of mangoes laid up in piles in the living room. Yes, there were kept indoors. The produce was precious! And the smell was the most amazing part.

Mom says when I was a kid of about 3, I used to eat the whole mango by myself and the neighbors from the village would comment on how sweetly I ate it. Plus one for me!

Mom also tells us quite often about when she and Uncle Trevor (her cousin brother) would race to finish the most sucking mangoes in a day. These ‘chusi aam’ were small yellow-green mangoes that you had to squeeze to suck the juice out of, typically chaunsa or dasheri type but local.

You massage the mangoes in your hand till the insides were tender, then you bit the top off. One or two good sucks of the flesh and the mango was done. I know, that sounds really odd! But that’s how it was. Ask anyone from Mumbai!

Of course, the sucking mangoes are smaller in size and juicy, so you can get through many of them at once. They’re not as sweet as Alphonso or payri/pairi mangoes, so it’s easy to have many of them. But it would have been nice to go back in time and watch them on that bench in Poinsur.

This veg mango cheesecake is a celebration of the good fruit that summer offers. Creamy with a crunchy base, and oh so rich this dessert will leave you wanting more, especially when it’s 38 °C outside! That’s 100 °F! Not only is this melt-in-the-mouth cheesecake easy to make, but you do not need to bake it at all. The best part, you don’t have to dish out moolah for cream cheese. This rich mango cheesecake is made with a mix of paneer and fresh cream! So if you’ve ever wondered how to make cheesecake without cream cheese, this is how! With creamy cream and rich cottage cheese.

Follow our easy homemade mango cheesecake recipe below and treat your friends and family to an amazingly lush and cooling dessert!

What Ingredients Do You Need To Make Mango Cheesecake?

To make the base of this no-bake mango cheesecake you need biscuits, butter, and powdered sugar. For the top layer, you need sugar, mango pulp, water, and gelatin (agar agar if you’re a vegetarian). And for the cheesecake itself, you’ll need mango pulp, sugar, water, gelatin, vanilla essence, paneer (cottage cheese), and thick cream.

How Do We Make Our Eggless Mango Cheesecake?

Start with the biscuit base of the cheesecake

Melt the butter in a vessel and then add the powdered sugar. If you’ve forgotten to buy powdered sugar from the store, you can simply take regular sugar and grind it in a mixer or food processor.

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Butter in a pot.
Melted butter in a pot.
Add powder sugar to the melted butter.

Next, you crush some biscuits into a fine powder. Either do it by hand by rolling over the biscuit packet with a cup or use a mortar and pestle. You can also use a mixer-grinder to get it done. Here in India, others use biscuits like Marie or Monaco, or sometimes even digestive biscuits. But I usually prefer to go with Monaco or Krackjack because they’re a mix of sweet and salty. You can pick any good semi-salty biscuits in your country so that it adds just that little bit of contrast to the sweetness of the mango.

Add the biscuit crumbs to the melted butter and sugar.

Mix the crushed biscuits into the melted butter and sugar to make a crumb base for your cheesecake. Add this to the bottom of a pan. A spring-form pan is preferred, you know, so that it comes out easily. Or maybe so that you can actually show your friends and family your creation from all angles before they eat it. No one said no to a little showing off, did they?

Biscuit crumb mixed with melted butter and sugar.
Crumb layer at the bottom.

Next work on the Actual Cheesecake

Here’s a secret. Sometimes we make only the cheesecake layer and eat that right out of the tin. It’s heavenly. You don’t always need to stick to tradition and make a three-layered cheesecake like everyone else does!

Anyways, back to the middle layer. Start by grinding the sugar to a powder, or you could use powdered sugar if available. Keep the mango pulp ready or make pulp from fresh mangoes. And crumble the cottage cheese (paneer) into small pieces.

Grinding the sugar to a fine powder in a mixer.
Mango pulp in a pot.
Crumble the cottage cheese.

Melt the gelatin sheets or gelatin powder with water in a double boiler or heat water, take it off the stove and then add the sheet to melt them.

Gelatin soaking in water.

In a blender, beat the mango pulp along with the paneer and form a thick mixture. Then add in the cream and whip. Finally, add the powdered sugar and whip till the mango mousse is ready.

Mix all the ingredients in a blender.
A fine mango mousse.

Pour this mango mousse into a vessel and add the vanilla essence and stir. Then add in the melted gelatin and mix well.

Add vanilla to the mango mousse mix.
Gelatin being added to a vessel with mango mousse.

Pour the mango mousse into the round tins that have the biscuit base. Fill the till up to the half-level mark. Dust them lightly till you get rid of the bubbles, and place these tins in the refrigerator, allowing them to cool and set for a few hours. Always make extra for the taste testers!

Pour mango mousse till you reach half the tin level.
Leave the cheesecake to set in the fridge.
Mango cheesecake in lots of pans.

Without Gelatin Layer – An Easy Option

Once the mango puree cheesecake has set you can then make the final layer to top it or you could just decorate this with rose petals and dry fruits like we do for barfi and serve just like that! This tastes just as delicious, and the peeps love it! 🙂

Mango mousse just out of the fridge.
Mango cheesecake with rose petals in tupperware for friends.
Topless mango cheesecake is still indulgent.

Create the Top of the Cheesecake

If you want to go all the way, this is how! Start by heating water on the stove and then turn it off. Stir in the gelatin after taking it off the heat, and when melted add the powdered sugar and mango pulp.

Using a tablespoon as shown below, pour the mango pulp mixture onto the top of the cheesecake and form a layer about half an inch thick. You now have a good-looking mango glaze topping. We use the tablespoon so that the mango-gelatin layer doesn’t dig holes in the cheesecake. If you’re fine with holes, caves, or caverns, then skip the spoon!

Use a spoon so that you don't create a cavern.

Put the cheesecake back in the refrigerator and allow it to set for about five minutes. You can then decorate as you like with fresh fruit or dry fruits and other toppings and then put it back in to set for longer. We use broken pistachios, rose petals, sliced almonds, fresh cherries, fresh mangoes, and a lot of different things as toppings. You can add almost anything!

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By the way, if you end up buying extra rose petals like we did, you might want to make rose petal wine. It’s different!

Glazed mango cheesecake ready for toppings.
Cover with rose petals.
Add crushed pistachios and rose petals.
Cherry topped mango cheesecake.
Delicious veg mango cheesecake topped with cherries.
A knife cutting a big slice of mango cheesecake.
A big slice of veg mango cheesecake topped with cherries.

Mango Cheesecake using Paneer (Cottage Cheese)

Abby
This vegetarian Mango Cheesecake made with paneer (cottage cheese) is an awesome soft and creamy dessert to beat the summer heat! Perfect for my vegetarian friends in Mumbai, it does not require baking!
5 out of 5 Stars by 6 readers!

Click the stars to add your rating! Left you don’t like it, right you love it!

Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Resting time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Fusion, Indian, International
Servings 16 Servings
Calories 292 kcal
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Ingredients
  

Base of the Cheesecake

  • 200 grams Biscuits We use monaco or krackjack in India. Any semi-salty will do.
  • 100 grams Butter Melted
  • 50 grams Sugar Powdered

Cheesecake

  • 100 millilitres Mango Pulp or Aamras same flavour as the topping
  • 175 grams Sugar
  • 250 grams Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese)
  • 1 Tablespoons Vanilla Essence
  • 250 grams Thick cream
  • 15 grams Veg Plant-based Gelatin 7 sheets (Or use agar agar)
  • 100 millilitres Water

Top of the Cheesecake

  • 200 millilitres Mango Pulp or Aamras
  • 5 grams Veg Plant-based Gelatin 2.5 sheets (Or use agar agar)
  • 25 grams Powdered Sugar
  • 35 millilitres Water

Instructions
 

Prepare the Base of the Cheesecake

  • Crush the biscuits to a fine powder in a mixer-grinder. Or use a mortar and pestle.
  • Mix the crushed biscuits with melted butter and powdered sugar and form a biscuit crumble.
  • Use the biscuit crumble to form a base in the bottom of the cake tins.

Prepare the Cheesecake layer

  • Crumble the paneer into small pieces with your hands or a fork. Keep your mango pulp ready.
  • Grind the sugar into a fine powder and add the mango pulp and paneer pieces and blend together.
  • Add in the thick cream and whip until you have a nice creamy mango mousse.
  • Heat water on the stove and when hot take it off and add the gelatin sheets. Stir well to dissolve the gelatin.
  • Pour the mango mousse cheesecake into a vessel and add vanilla essence and melted gelatin.
  • Mix well and pour this mixture into the tins with the biscuit base, refrigerate for a few hours, and allow to set.

Prepare the top of the Cheesecake

  • Pour the mango pulp in a pot along with the powdered sugar.
  • Heat water on the stove and take it off, then stir in the gelatin sheets until they melt.
  • Add this melted gelatin to the mango pulp and powdered sugar and mix well.
  • Pour this onto the top of the cheesecake using a tablespoon so you do not create a cavern aka holes in the cheesecake.
  • Place the cheesecake tins pr pans back in the refrigerator to set.
  • After about 5 minutes, take them out and decorate with fresh fruit, dry fruit and other toppings.
  • Get the cheesecake back into the refrigerator and allow to set for 2 hours or so before serving! Yummy does it!

Please click to rate the recipe! Left you don’t like it, right you love it!

Notes

  • Use powdered sugar, so you do not have to grind the regular sugar. 
  • The gelatin should be melted once the hot water is taken off the stove and not when it is on the stove. Don’t build the gelatin!
  • Decorate with fresh fruit, dry fruits or any other toppings you like! 
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Nutrition (Per Serving)

Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 29mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 847IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 3mg

Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.

This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysHearth.com
A big slice of veg mango cheesecake topped with cherries.

Pointers For Mango Cheesecake

  • Grind regular sugar if you don’t have powdered sugar available. 
  • The gelatin should be added only once the hot water is taken off the stove and not when it is on the stove.
  • Decorate with fresh fruit, dry fruits, or any other toppings. 
  • If you can’t find the veg plant-based gelatin as we do in India (which really is a mix of other things), use agar agar powder.
  • Skip the top glassy gelatin layer if you like!
  • The longer you allow the cheesecake to set, the better!
  • The same recipe works with other fruits!

Questions About Veg Mango Cheesecake

What is Cheesecake?

Cheesecake is a sweet layered dessert that consists of a non-baked crust, topped by a layer of flavored soft fresh sweetened cheese and a top layer of jelly.

What does Cheesecake taste like?

Cheesecake has a unique taste that is quite similar to cream cheese and it also has a sweet taste depending on the flavor you choose to add to it.

Can I freeze Mango Cheesecake?

Yes, most people say Mango Cheesecake can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer in an air-tight container or a plastic wrap. But if you ask me, no, don’t freeze it! The texture will change and it won’t taste as good as it did before. It’s better to just store it in the refrigerator and finish in a week to ten days.

Come and grab the mango cheesecake.
Come and grab the mango cheesecake

Why is gelatin used in cheesecakes?

Gelatin helps to keep the texture of the cheesecake firm and hold it together, without gelatin, the cheesecake can get flat and lose its shape.

What Is Veg Gelatin?

Veg gelatin as it’s called in India is a plant-based complex that is used as a substitute for the traditionally non-veg gelatin. It’s not agar agar, but it’s not really gelatin either! Veg gelatin is a mix of Carrageenan Powder and other ingredients.

Individual Mango cheesecake to prevent fights.
Individual Mango cheesecake to prevent fights

Is the mango cheesecake Indian recipe different from the international mango cheesecake recipes?

Not necessarily. Most recipes are the same. The only main difference is that Indian mango cheesecake recipes are usually pure vegetarian made without eggs. Even the gelatin used is a vegetarian gelatin made from plant products.

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