Hi Everyone!! Happy to be back to “cooking, clicking and blogging” after returning home from India.  How have you all been? My trip to India was exhaustive yet memorable. While hot Indian summer made our trip a little difficult, the thing which kept our spirits high all the time was that Mango Tree. My in-laws have a large mango tree in their big garden, which gives the most delicious mangoes that I  have ever tasted. I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say, those mangoes made our stay a memorable one.  That mango tree have been nurtured carefully for years and from past few years it yields at-least 1000 mangoes every season. There was always a large box full of ripe mangoes to be dug in every single day of our stay. My in-laws would generously distribute the mangoes to all their friends & family, proudly telling them the tales of those home grown mangoes, and everyone would sing laurels about its taste. We spent most of our time around that tree, spotting a almost-ripe mango, climbing to pluck it, storing it to ripen and then devouring it many times a day. Mango Dreamland it was!! After a few day of coming back to home, a neighboring aunt was generous enough to bring us a box of mangoes that she got from an Indian Store. While these mangoes helped me with the nostalgia, I really miss that scent and caramel-like-sweetness of those golden fruits from the Mango Tree.

Coming back to the recipe, this is a kind of dessert that you can put together in 15 minutes and enjoy after chilling for few hours. It is delicious, versatile and fancy for parties . The best thing is, you can make it ahead a few days before and chill until serving time.  I have previously shared similar recipe with Raspberry and white chocolate (here). This time,It got better with our favorite mango and dark chocolate. Chocolate takes this baked yogurt several notches up.  Simply mix yogurt and condensed milk, add mango puree in half of the mixture and, melted dark chocolate in the other half. Form layers on biscuit base and bake for just 10 mins and pop it in refrigerator for at-least 2 hours and enjoy. You can use a big 6″ spring form pan or individual tart pans with removable bottoms like me. I tried making layers in shot glasses and it looked great too. So do try this easy recipe with your favorite combinations and share with me your views on the same in the comments section.

Baked Yogurt Cheesecake(lets) with Mango and Dark Chocolate

Serving: 8 individual mini cheesecakes in 2″ tart pan/shot glasses (or) one 6″ tart/spring form pan

Ingredients:

For Biscuit Base:

Biscuit crumbs: 1.5 cups (I used graham crackers)

Flavorless oil: 2 tbsp (or melted butter)

Maple syrup: 2 tsp (or honey), Optional

For Baked Yogurt:

Thick yogurt: 2 cups (approx. 500 gms), I used low fat yogurt

Condensed milk: 1 tin (approx. 400 gms)

Mango puree: 3/4 cup (1 large mango)

Dark chocolate chips: 1/2 cup (or 2 tbsp of cocoa powder + 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease the bottom of tart pans with oil. Hung the yogurt for 30 minutes in cheesecloth or fine strainer to remove excess water.
2. In a bowl, mix together biscuit crumb, oil and maple syrup and press into the tart pans or shot glasses. The mixture looks like wet sand but need not be very clumpy. This way the layer will not be very soggy later. Set it in the refrigerator for 30 mins. You can use your favorite biscuits.
3. Meanwhile, in another bowl, mix yogurt and condensed milk with whisk until no lumps. Transfer half of the mixture to another bowl.
4. In first half, add mango puree and mix well.
5. Melt the dark chocolate chips in microwave or double boiler and add to the yogurt and whisk well.
6. Take a baking tray and arrange tart pans/shot glasses on it. Form layers on the biscuit base, by first pouring chocolate yogurt and then mango yogurt until full.
7. Bake these for 10-15 minutes or until the top looks set, but the center is slightly jiggly. If you plan to bake a large one in spring form pan, it may take a few minutes longer. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate for 2 hour at-least.
8. To serve, gently lift the bottom of the tart pan and slide on the serving plate with palette knife. Serve with mango pieces and chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1. You can increase or decrease the amount of condensed milk by few tablespoons as per your liking.
2. It will stay in refrigerator for about 1 week as I have used store bought yogurt.
3. I do not have the picture describing the process. You can view the similar recipe here.