Mango passionfruit cheesecake bars

Mango and passionfruit cheesecake bars. Photograph: Harry Weir
Mango and passionfruit cheesecake bars. Photograph: Harry Weir
Serves: 9
Course: Dessert
Cooking Time: 35 mins
Prep Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

  • For the base:
  • 200g gingernut biscuits
  • 100g butter, melted
  • 2tbsp light brown sugar
  • For the passionfruit ripple:
  • 4 passionfruit
  • 3/4 tbsp cornflour
  • For the filling:
  • 450g cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • Zest and juice of 2 limes
  • 2tbsp plain flour
  • 1 mango, diced into small (about 1cm) cubes

For the base:

1 Put the biscuits into a food processor with the sugar and blend to a fine powder. Alternatively, put the biscuits and sugar into a Ziploc bag and break up with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs.

2 Pour in the melted butter and mix well, then press into the base of the tin, smoothing the biscuit crumb evenly. Set aside.

For the passionfruit ripple:

3 Halve the passionfruit and scrape the seeds and pulp out into a bowl. Put a few tablespoonfuls of the passionfruit pulp into a saucepan and place over a low heat. Whisk the cornflour into the remaining passionfruit pulp, then pour into the saucepan, whisking all the time until the mixture has come to a boil and thickened slightly.

4 Remove from the heat and scrape into a bowl. Leave to cool slightly.

For the filling:

5 Preheat the oven to 220C or 200C fan. Grease a 20 x 20cm square tin and line with two large squares of parchment paper.

6 Whisk the cream cheese with the sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, whisking well between each addition.

7 Add the vanilla, lime zest and lime juice and whisk well to combine.

8 Sift in the flour and fold through gently, then fold through the mango cubes. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

9 Spoon tablespoons of the passionfruit sauce on top and use a skewer or knife to ripple the sauce through the cheesecake.

10 Bake for five minutes, then reduce the temperature to 140C or 120C fan and continue to bake for a further 30 minutes, until the cheesecake is just set around the outside with a slight wobble in the centre.

11 Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least two hours in the fridge or overnight before slicing into squares or bars to serve.

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan is a pastry chef and culinary consultant. She writes a weekly baking column for the Irish Times Magazine