Mango and passion fruit cheesecake

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Pastry chef and consultant Daniel Fletcher provides his easy recipe for this glamorous deconstructed cheesecake dessert. Although there are several elements, including an oat crumble, passion fruit curd and exotic sorbet, they are all simple to make and can be made in advance.

First published in 2015

Although I originally designed this dessert for the Michelin-starred Angler restaurant, this dish can be created at home and is a good base for a cheesecake which can be made in minutes. You can finish it in any way you like – experiment with different flavours and see which one works for you.

Cheesecake can be quite a rich heavy dish so it is nice to be able to balance that against the clean flavours of mango and the sharpness of the passionfruit which brings and almost cleansing quality to the dish. Balance in any dessert that I create is important.

There are no real key techniques to this dish as it is quite straightforward, but as with all my recipes you must have patience; pastry cannot be rushed. There are no shortcuts and you must be methodical in your approach and ensure you follow the recipe.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Mango and passion fruit sorbet

Cheesecake

  • 250g of cream cheese
  • 250g of double cream
  • 90g of icing sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla pod

Oat and honey crumble

Passion fruit curd

Mango and passion fruit compote

Equipment

  • Ice cream maker

Method

1
Start with the sorbet, as this will need time to freeze. Add the sugar, glucose and water to a pan and bring to a boil over a medium heat. Allow to cool, then add in both purées, mix to combine then pass through a sieve to ensure it is smooth. Churn the mix in an ice cream machine until done, then reserve in the freezer
2
To make the cheesecake mixture, beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla seeds (scraped from the pod). Add in the cream and whip until stiff. Transfer to a large piping bag and reserve in the fridge until ready to serve
3
For the crumble, rub together the butter, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl to make a sandy mixture. Add in the oats and honey and stir together so that it forms small clusters. Spread out on a baking tray and chill until firmed up slightly
4
Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 4
5
Once chilled, bake in the oven until golden brown (about 15 minutes). Remove and allow to cool, then blitz to a fine crumb in a blender and set aside until serving
6
To make the curd, mix together the egg yolks, whole eggs, sugar and purée in a large bowl. Place over a bain marie (pan of barely simmering water) and continue to stir over the heat until it starts to set
7
Soften the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of water, then mix into the curd. Take the bowl off the heat and whisk in the diced butter. Pass the curd through a sieve to remove any lumps, then chill until needed
8
Make a simple compote by mixing together the fresh diced mango and passion fruit seeds in a bowl, then chill in the fridge until ready to serve
9
To serve, pipe two large mounds of the cheesecake mixture onto each serving plate. Scatter over some of the crumble and dot around spoonfuls of the passion fruit curd. Spoon over some of the fresh mango and passion fruit, then finish with a quenelle of the sorbet
First published in 2015

Daniel Fletcher has worked as a top level Pastry Chef under such prestigious names as Jason Atherton, Gordon Ramsey and Tony Fleming. He now acts a Pastry Consultant based in London and hosts pop up bakery Sweet.

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