Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake Recipe

I have taken pictures at every stage of this recipe and I am going to force you to look at them. This does not mean this is not an easy recipe. I mean, this is cheesecake you don't need to bake. It really doesn't get easier than that. Round up your ingredients and let's get started.



You are going to need graham crackers for the base. I got some from the US because I really really love graham crackers but if you don't have any handy, go with digestive biscuits, marie biscuits, or even Oreos.



Give them a whiz in your food processor to turn into crumbs. You can even put them into a ziplock and use a rolling pin to smash them into small pieces. I always take the easy way out, especially when the end result won't show much difference anyway.



Time to pour in some melted better.



Give the mixture another whiz so that the base becomes moist and crumbly, just the way we want it. At this time, I urge you to smell this mixture. I swear it already smells a bit like cheesecake!



Now, you can go many routes. Use an 8" springform pan if you want one full cake which you can later slice up. I decided to set them in individual glasses and picked out whatever I had in hand. This will make serving much easier, especially if you are making this for a small party or something. Also looks infinitely prettier.



Spoon some into each glass and press firmly with the back of a spoon or fingertips. Leave this in the refrigerator while the rest of the cheesecake is prepared.



Mix well together the cream cheese, sugar, and cream. You can do this with a whisk by hand since you are not going to beat it much, just until it all comes together. I used my Kitchenaid for the job.



Time to bring out the gelatine. This is our setting agent, since this is a no-bake cheesecake recipe. You can also use china grass, I am sure, but I haven't tried it with that. If you want to go that route, I would recommend starting with 5gm and following the rest of the steps as mentioned here.

Dissolve 1 tbsp gelatine in hot water.



Mix this into the mango puree. I used canned mango puree but if you have fresh mangoes that you want to use up (lucky you!), then go for that, please. Make sure the mango puree is well combined with the gelatine mixture.

Reserve half and pour the rest into the cream cheese mixture. Incorporate well. This is our middle layer or the main part of the cheesecake. How easy was that?



Bring out the glasses from the fridge and spoon the cheesecake mixture into each, until about 3/4th full. Return to fridge for atleast 10 mins. I took them out in about 15 mins or so.

Once the cheesecake has set a bit in the fridge, pour the reserved mango-gelatine mixture gently on top of the cheesecake. If you don't do the refrigerating bit after you pour in the cheesecake, that will blend into the top layer that you are pouring in now so its important to let the cheesecake mixture set for a bit.

That's it! Refrigerate overnight or atleast 6-8 hours for a delicious dessert.

Full credit for this recipe goes to my classmate from school, Swetha and her cousin. She emailed me this recipe long back and I had kept it starred for ages. Glad I got around to finally making it. This is an easy dessert that makes you look really good for making it, just the kind I love!

Here's the recipe, all in one place.

Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:
Cream cheese - 1 block (250gm, Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
Cream - 170 gm (I used Nestle)
Sugar - Half a cup
Mango puree - 3/4 of a cup
Gelatine - 1 Tbsp
Hot Water - 1/4 cup
Graham cracker crumbs - 1.5 to 2 cups (Depending on how thick you want the base to be)
Unsalted butter, melted - 75 gm (about 1/3 of a cup)

How I Made It:

1. Whiz the graham crackers in a food processor. Add melted butter and whiz again until the mixture comes together. Press into the bottom of an 8" springform pan that's lined with aluminium foil or use individual glasses. Refrigerate while preparing the rest of the cheesecake.

2. Mix the cream cheese, cream, and sugar in a bowl until well combined. You can do it by hand or use low speed on your Kitchenaid. An electric beater is not needed.

3. Add the gelatine to the hot water and stir till it completely dissolves. Add the mango puree and stir well. Keep half of this mixture aside and add the rest to the cream cheese mixture. Stir gently until well combined.

4. Pour on top of the graham cracker base. Return to fridge for another 10-30 mins.

5. Pour the mango mixture as the third layer. Do this gently so that the layers don't combine. If you use a springform pan, the top layer will be much thinner, as it should be.

6. Refrigerate overnight and get ready to serve a yummy dessert at your party that can be prepared well in advance!

Easy Eggless Chocolate Mousse - Nigella Lawson Recipe

I barely had time to do this month's Sweet Punch - Easy Eggless Chocolate Mousse - a Nigella Lawson recipe. We are packing to go off on our big vacation of the year, the house hunt just got over and we are shifting first week of December, having moved to a new role, work is also not that laid back anymore - so a lot of stuff happening all at the same time!

Still, I couldn't pass over this easy chocolate mousse recipe because even before this month's challenge was shared, I had bookmarked to try this, along with the Chocolate Pistachio Fudge which I managed to make sometime back. 

The secret to this recipe is marshmallows. The gelatine in this eliminates the need to use eggs and also the lengthy setting time that's common for classic mousse recipes.

Eggless Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Source: How to be a Domestic Goddess
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Mini marshamallows - 150 g (I used regular ones)
Butter - 50 g, softened
Chocolate - 250 g (I used 60% dark chocolate, and it was super intense), roughly broken into pieces
Hot water - 60 ml
Cream - 250 ml
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

How I Made It:

1. In a heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water together, stirring every now and then. Note that the marshmallows take a while to meld down so I cut each further into 4 pieces. I'd recommend you do the same if using regular marshmallows.

2. Meanwhile, whip the cream with vanilla until thick.

3. Fold it into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth mixture.

4. Pour into individual ramekins / small serving bowls and let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour.

I halved the recipe and got exactly 2 portions of intense, chocolate-y mousse that was silky and had a wonderful texture. Using semi-sweet chocolate is more advisable since the flavour is intense otherwise.

Cheesecake Truffles Recipe

I love cheesecake but the slightly tedious process of making cheesecake, the water bath, the baking of the crumb, etc etc makes me want to just walk over to Secret Recipe and eat their perfectly baked cheese cake. And, I can choose what flavour I want!

So as you can see, I am a quick and easy bakes kinda person. I love my baked goodies but I want them quick and I want them good. That also explains why I made these delicious truffles.



These is not a cheesecake in the conventional sense. Its a crust-less cheesecake, more like truffles, that's dipped in chocolate. Yumville!



The recipe is from my absolute favourite baking book - A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman!

Cheesecake Truffles
Makes 20 small truffles

Ingredients:

For Cheesecake Batter:
250gm cream cheese (about half a pound), softened at room temp
1/2 cup sugar (or a little less)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup whipping cream (or normal cream)
Small pinch of salt

For Dipping Chocolate:
8 ounces of semi sweet or milk chocolate, melted (I used Hershey's semi sweet chocolate bar)




How I Made It:


1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a brownie pan with parchment paper and set aside.



2. Whisk together all the ingredients for the cheesecake. Isn't that gorgeously simple?!



3.  Bake for about 35-40 mins until the cake is spongy but doesn't dry and curl in from the sides.



4. Cool completely and don't poke it with your fingers like I did.



5. Using small cookie cutters or ice cream scoop, make small pieces of the cheesecake.



6. Oh by the way, don't forget to melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.



7. Dip the cheesecake pieces into the melted and cooled chocolate and transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper or a baking sheet (so that it doesn't stick to the plate). You can also try using a greased plate for this in case you don't have parchment paper.



8. Don't worry if it doesn't look that glam because the chocolate is dripping around the cheesecake pieces. Trust me and stick the plate into your freezer for about 2 hours.

Serve the cheesecake truffles frozen or chilled. 

Need I say again that this is the most easy and quick cheesecake recipe I have seen? Once the cheesecake was done, it tasted so good as is (yes of course I tried it) so I am thinking of using a crush and the same cheesecake recipe to bake up a good 'ol proper cheesecake. Will let you know how that comes out, ok? Meanwhile, do yourself a favour and go bake this! Your family and guests will be wow'ed, guaranteed ;)

PS: you can dress these up by drizzling some melted white chocolate over the truffles, like you see in the book. I didn't have any white chocolate handy.

PPS: Marcy says chocolate chips won't work in this recipe. So to make the dipping chocolate for the cheesecake truffles, use chocolate bars.

PPPS: Check out my review of A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman.

Paneer Butter Masala: Restaurant-Style Recipe - Step by Step

Let's talk about Paneer Butter Masala today. Not just any kind, the kind that you get in Indian restaurants. Why? Well, I've already posted the Paneer Butter Masala Recipe I usually make, long back. Its also one of the most popular recipes on this site for two reasons:

- since its a popular Indian dish, a lot of people have tried it from my site and sent me feedback.

- this is the only recipe that has received as many good feedback as disappointing feedback.

Most people said this or a variation of this - "I tried your paneer butter masala recipe today. It came out nicely, I did everything you mentioned but it didn't come out like the one we had in that North Indian restaurant last weekend and my husband/wife/mom/dad/sibling loved! Help!"

I guess they found my Paneer Butter Masala Recipe too homely!

In most Indian restaurants, dishes are more creamy and have thicker gravy. The reason is very simple - they use cream. They use it as the base of every dish you order and it may make the dish arguably tastier. This is not hard to whip at home provided you have no qualms about adding that bit of cream and kicking up the amount of oil a notch.

So here it is, my second Paneer Butter Masala Recipe, like they serve in Indian restaurants!

Oh did I mention its going to be step-by-step? Also, a huge thanks to my cousin Divya for giving me the basic recipe. Ok here goes, a picture of the final dish.

I'd say the only thing that's different from this dish and the one you get in Indian restaunts is the difference in the colour. That's because they add red food colour and I didn't.

Ok, let's get started.

Add 2 tbsp oil to a hot pan and swirl around until the base of the pan is well coated.

Add in cubed paneer pieces.

(Sidenote: Let's please pretend these are paneer pieces 'cuz its actually tofu. I was out of paneer and couldn't go all the way to get some. Also, it tastes as good with tofu, trust me!)

Lightly fry the paneer cubes until golden brown on all sides.

Drain and set aside on a plate lined with a paper napkin.

Add 1tbsp oil to the same pan and thrown 1 medium-sized chopped onion.

Fry until golden brown. To this, add 1 tbsp freshly minced ginger-garlic paste. (Ok fine, use your bottled paste, it just doesn't taste as good)

Fry for a minute.

To this, add 1 tbsp dhania powder/malli podi, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala and 1/2 tsp salt. Fry for 30 seconds until the masalas are well combined.

Next you need 1 tbsp tomato paste. I used the same kind I used for the Tomato Spinach Pulao. If you don't have tomato paste handy, just puree 1 medium-sized tomato and add it at this stage.

Next we need tomato ketchup or tomato sauce, the bottled Maggi/Heinz kind. Add in an almost-1tbsp of this.

Bring out your kasuri methi next. A generous pinch of this needs to go in.

(This picture makes my heart break, btw. The focus should've been on the kasuri methi but its actually on the blob of tomato sauce in the pan. Well, I took only one shot and my hands were smeared with oil and ketchup and I had to balance.. oh never mind!)

To this mixture, add 1/2 cup milk. Mix well and cook covered for about 5 minutes on low fire.

Meanwhile, bring out the secret ingredient for making restaurant-style paneer butter masala (or any Indian curry for that matter). CREAM!

I used Nestle cream but if you have fresh cream, please oh please use that. Just open the can and set aside or get your fresh cream ready.

Once the tomato sauce mixture has cooked covered for 5 mins, open and add the fried paneer.

Top this off with 1 cup cream. Mix well and simmer on low fire for 3-4 mins. Adjust salt.

The recipe again, all in one place.

Paneer (or Tofu) Butter Masala: Restaurant Style Recipe

What I Used:

Paneer/tofu - 1 block, approx. 2 cups of cubes

Onion - 1 medium-sized one, chopped fine

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Dhania powder/malli podi/Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Tomato paste- 1 tbsp (or 1 tomato, pureed)

Tomato sauce/ketchup - almost 1 tbsp

Kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves - 1 generous pinch

Milk - 1/2 cup

Cream - 1 cup

Oil - 3 tbsp

Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the paneer/tofu cubes until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add 1 more tbsp oil and fry the onions until golden brown.

3. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute.

4. Next, add the dhania, garam masala, chilli powder and some salt. Fry for 30 seconds.

5. To this, add the tomato paste/puree, tomato sauce and kasuri methi. Mix well and add the milk.

6. Lower fire and cook covered for 5 mins.

7. Open lid, add the fried paneer/tofu and the cream. Mix well and simmer for 3-4 mins.

8. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves if you have any.

Serve warm with rotis/pulao/jeera rice.

Its yummy, no doubt. Probably not something you want to make every weekend but its good when you entertain guests and people end up having only 2-3 spoons of one dish anyway. Its also a good recipe to "wow" your non-Indian friends.

Because when they Paneer Butter Masala, this is what they expect!