6″ Mango Cheesecake Using Mango Flavoring
Fresh mangos can be pricey. I was fortunate enough to make a mango mousse cake with fresh mangos at one point and it was delicious. Then I attempted to make the same cake using frozen mangos. Unfortunately, that wasn’t much of a success in terms of taste. I recently decided to make another cheesecake, but somewhat of a mango cheesecake this time, using mango flavoring since that is cheaper than many fresh mangos.
Semi Off-Topic
I saw an ad for Amoretti on FB for “Artisan Flavoring”. Somehow their “Natural Mango Artisan Flavor” caught my eye and I ordered one.
Usage
Amoretti flavorings aren’t typically measured by cups or teaspoons; the amount needed depends on the weight of the ingredients. They recommend 3 – 5% of the total weight be flavoring for food and 0.5 – 1% for beverages. That gives a good baseline of how much flavoring to put in since you can put in less for a milder flavor or more for a stronger flavor.
Mango Cheesecake without Real Mangos
I decided to make a 6″ cheesecake using Amoretti mango flavoring. My recipe is below –
Ingredients for Crust
- 2 Cups of Vanilla Wafer Crackers (Nilla or generic), ground up, netting around 1 and 1/4 Cups grounded
- 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
Ingredients for Filling
- 16 oz Plain Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract (I used Trader Joe’s Vanilla Bourbon extract)
- 24 Grams Amoretti Mango Flavoring
Other Stuff
- Line a 6″ round springform pan with parchment paper.
- Prepare a water bath (optional, but recommended to avoid many cracks and maintain a more even cooking throughout). If your springform pan tends to leak, wrap the bottom and lower edges with aluminum foil so that the water does not seep up from the water bath.
- Preheat Oven to 325F
Make the Crust
Mix the melted butter and the grounded vanilla wafer crackers together and form the crust in the lined springform pan. Push the shape with your hands or a cup. Make sure to have some on the sides too.
Make the Filling
1. Cream together the cream cheese and sugar for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add in the eggs and continue beating.
3. Add in the vanilla and flavoring and continue to beat until well incorporated.
Put it Together and Bake
1. Pour filling over the prepared crust in the lined springform pan.
2. Put in the water bath and bake at 325F for 70 minutes, depending on your oven. It usually should take between 65 – 80 minutes. The internal temperature of the cheesecake should be 160F when done. Feel free to poke the cheesecake to check it is not still raw.
3. Let cool and place in the fridge overnight.
4. Enjoy!
The Look
Wow, this turned out pretty yellow compared to how it looked before going in the oven. It made me wonder, “If I used other Amoretti flavorings, such as raspberry, how pink or red would that cheesecake be?”
The Taste
I tried a bit of the Amoretti mango flavoring by itself, and was not too impressed because it did not taste natural at all. It did taste pretty good in the final cheesecake product, though! My family got a chance to try this cheesecake and they enjoyed it too. I was initially nervous sharing with them because I wasn’t sure how it would taste, but it was a nice surprise for all of us.
