Mango Cheesecake with Coconut Macadamia Crust & Caramelized Pineapple Topping

Can I just say it's like a Tropical Paradise in your mouth! The crust alone is enough to make me swoon!

I've been wanting to make a mango cheesecake for a while but it never really came together in my mind until I saw the Caramelized Pineapple Topping on here. I started thinking about a cheesecake with a tropical twist.

The crust was super fun to build and I was almost finished with it when I remembered that I have some Macadamia Nuts left over from another recipe. Perfect! Had to add those! It really is as delicious as it sounds!! Okay, maybe that's just my opinion, but if you enjoy coconut at all I'm pretty sure you'll agree. :)

I love to use the Champagne Mangoes. The skin is yellow and they are smaller, but the flesh is smooth and super creamy with no strings in it. Yum! It's a good idea to make sure they are very ripe. Stronger mango flavor and better color for your cheesecake. Mine were not quite as ripe as I would have liked but I was kind of eager to try this one.

Regular Vanilla would be fine to use but I had Tahitian Vanilla in the cupboard and following the tropical theme I decided to use it. They really do smell and taste different but it's not a big deal if you use one or the other.

Preheat oven to 300°.
Prepare an 8" Spring Form Pan with a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom. Trim the excess neatly leaving about a ½ inch sticking out around the bottom of the pan. Spray sides and bottom lightly with nonstick spray.

For the Crust:
¾ cup toasted sweetened coconut,
finely ground (coffee grinder)
½ cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
(Pampered Chef Chopper)
½ cup almond meal flour
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, grated

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix. Grate in cold butter and gently mix until pea sized crumbs form. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Place a small bowl of hot water on the floor of the oven or the bottom rack.

Cheesecake:
32 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temp.
1 cup white sugar
Beat until light and fluffy.

3 Champagne Mangoes, peeled and sliced
1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 eggs
1½ teaspoon Tahitian Vanilla or regular Vanilla
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Place these 5 ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. Add to the cream cheese mixture and beat just until completely combined. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl as needed for even mixing.

DO NOT OVERBEAT!!

Pour into baked crust and bake for 1 hour. Sides should look puffy and dry. Center of the cheesecake should be a little bit wobbly when you shake it gently.

Turn oven off and prop the door open with a wooden spoon handle and leave it in there for another 45-60.

If you follow instructions your cheesecake should not crack. Cracked cheesecakes make me unhappy. They taste the same but they're not so pleasant to look at, but maybe that's just me. :)

Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edge of the top and allow to come to room temp. before placing into the refrigerator. Chill till completely firm, over night is a great idea.

Caramelized Pineapple Topping:
revised from www.inspired.ca
4 cups fresh pineapple, cut into tidbit size
½ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4 Tablespoons pineapple juice
3 teaspoons cornstarch, (approximately)

Melt butter and sugar in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. When it begins to bubble stir in the pineapple, juice, and ginger. Cook until sauce is golden brown. Thicken slightly with cornstarch.

Lime zest for garnish

Enjoy!



                                                                                     



We enjoyed a lovely visit this past weekend from one of my nephews and his sweet girlfriend. Jordon and Trish, thanks so much for coming to see us, you really made the weekend special! It's always fun and refreshing to sit and laugh with family! :) Seems like we did a lot of that while you were here. :)

                                                                                              

Summer keeps rapidly moving towards the beginning of another school year. How can that be?!?!

I have some that are ready to go back and others that wish they wouldn't need to think about school but I think they'll be fine again once they are actually there. :)

We are missing our Dad/Grandpa who went home to be with Jesus in July. Really seems hard to believe that it's really true! We are happy for him that he has a new body that is free of pain, but we miss him a lot!  

♥Blessings!♥