We have always had a love for tropical fruit, but ever since we have traveled more to tropical locations, we have a grown to love tropical fruits even more and nothing embodies the taste of the tropics quite like sweet, bright mango!

They’re best in the summertime, so when we picked up a case for 50 cents each, we wanted to do something more than just eating it by itself or throw it in our smoothies! Cheesecake sounded like a perfect vehicle to let the bright orange fruit with the perfumed scent shine through. The cream cheese base plays nicely with mango and we also love how lime pairs with mango, so we decided to add it into the crust to help amplify that tropical escape.

We went the extra step and made a lime shortbread base, we will include the recipe for this and for a graham cracker base.

Mango Cheesecake Recipe
Makes 1-10” cheesecake
Active prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time:
Crust- 15 minutes
Cheesecake- 1 hour 30 minutes
Inactive time: 8 hours
Total time: 10 hrs 15 min

*Remove cream cheese at beginning of crust making process. It should be soft and pliable by the time you’re ready to use it.

**Use about 2 of the ripest mangoes you have, it will be puréed, so don’t worry about being precise with cutting it. 2 mangoes should yield a little bit more than 2 cups. We used the excess for margaritas! If you cannot find fresh mango, frozen will work too.

Lime Shortbread Crust
1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter, room temp
6 Tb confectioners sugar
2 Tb vanilla extract
Zest of 2 limes
1 1/4 cup of All Purpose Flour
Pinch sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a mixer, combine the sugar and butter and mix until creamy. Then put in vanilla extract and lime zest and combine.

With mixer on low speed, sift in the flour and mix until combined. It will be crumbly, don’t worry!
Press the shortbread into a 10” springform pan, going up the sides about 1.5”. Use a fork and poke holes in the dough on the base, this will let steam escape.

Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes, or until it starts to get browned slightly. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Graham Crust
1 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 Tb butter, melted
2 limes zested, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine the graham crumbs, sugar and optional zest in a bowl.

Melt butter and combine with graham crumb mixture. Combine well, it should feel like wet sand
Press the mix into 10” springform pan and about 1.5” up the sides.

Bake for 10 minutes and remove to cool.

Mango Cheesecake Mixture
3-8oz blocks of cream cheese*
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups puréed mango**
2TB vanilla extract
4 TB corn starch
1 ripe mango for garnish

If making this right after you make your crust, reduce heat of oven to 325 degrees. If not, preheat to 325 degrees now. In a mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and silky, make sure to scrape the bottom frequently. When the cream cheese is silky, beat in the sugar and cornstarch, and combine well. Again making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. With mixer running, drop the eggs in one at a time and let them incorporate before adding the next. Add in the vanilla. Scrape the bowl again and make sure the ingredients are smooth and well combined. With the mixer running, pour in the mango purée and let it fully mix.

We like to take extra precaution and wrap the bottom of the springform with aluminum foil. Pour the mixture into your springform pan over your crust of choice, give the pan a shake to help settle. Put the pan on a sheet pan and place into the oven. Pour hot water into the sheet pan, making sure not to splash any into the cheesecake (this is very important!!) Gently close the door. Bake the cheesecake for an hour and 15 minutes, it should be firm but jiggly, but not loose. If not, let it bake another 15 minutes.

After the cheesecake is set, turn the oven off and crack the door. This will let the cheesecake slowly cool and helps to prevent cracks. After 15 minutes of being in the cooking oven, remove and let cool a further 15 minutes on the counter top, preferably on a cooling rack. Place the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but overnight is best.

After its time in the fridge it is time to take it out of the pan. When removing the springform sides, do it slowly!! You don’t want to rip that beautiful cheesecake after all that work! We garnished with fresh mango slices. To do this, cut the mango down the sides so you get the 2 cup shaped pieces, carefully run a paring knife in lengthwise strips about 1/4” each. Use a spoon to cup out the slices.

Cutting tip- run your knife under hot water before each cut, and wipe the blade off, you will get picture perfect cheesecake every time!

We hope you enjoy this as much as we do! Let us know how it went in the comments!