mango and peach cheesecakes (a)

I blame dad for this recipe. DAD??!! DO YOU READ THIS??!!! ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! ok seriously, I don't think pappy even KNOWS I do this...he'd call it a waste of time. He already thinks I put too many photos of food on facebook (you can NEVER have too many photos of food) and would make me paint the house or something instead.

BUT that doesnt say that he wont be tucking into cheesecake for dessert.

ANYWAYS reason why I blame dad is that SOMEHOW we ended up with a tin of slice peaches in mango puree. I like sliced peaches on my weetbix in the morning, but I would NEVER buy them in puree, and neither would mum, so it must have been one of those rare occasions when dad got trusted with the shopping. So, I opened the tin of peaches this morning and thought I would give them a go.

POSSIBLY THE MOST DISGUSTING THING I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE

Well, the peaches tasted normal, but the mango puree...made me wanna spew (no joke). Im not really an Australian because, well I dont really like mango, and this was like smushed up over-ripe mango...grrroooossss.

I however decided that I wouldnt WASTE the tinned monstrosity, and figured if I drained the peaches, they would be good to eat (they were) and well...we had three blocks of philly in the fridge, so maybe I could use the mango to make cheesecake (the three blocks of philly is EASILY explained by the fact that if you brought 3 philly products you go A FREE COOKBOOK!!!! FREE!!!)

I also thought I would make individual cheesecakes. With no dinners planned and only 3 people in the house atm, individual cheesecakes could be frozen and pulled out for the right occasion, without having to wait for an army of people to come round to help eat a cake.

Also...this recipe uses NO GEALTIN for all those people out there who dont just HAVE gelatin lying around in the cupboard. It does have an egg though, so isn't vego...sorry, but, you could always experiment leaving the egg out (let me know how it goes!)

Mango and Peach (individual) cheesecakes

125g Milk arrowroot (or marie) biscuits

60g butter

1/2 tspn mixed spice

375g Philadelphia cream cheese (at room temperature)

1 tspn vanilla essence

1/4 c sugar

1 egg

juice from a big (1kg?) tin of canned peaches in mango puree, I think it was about 1/3 of a cup

2 tspns flour

6 of the peaches from the tin

Heat oven to 160 degrees. Prepare muffin tin (I used a silicone one, easiest way).

Crush the biscuits. Best way is to put them in a plastic bag, seal it (no air inside or it will burst) and SMASH IT WITH A ROLLING PIN! else, you can always use a food processor.

Melt the butter and add it to the crushed biscuits.

Add the mixed spice. Mix well.

The biscuit crumbs should be coated in butter, but still separate.

Place a tbspn of biscuit crumbs in each muffin case.

Use a flat bottomed glass (beer glasses are usually good) or fingers to press the crumbs into the bottom.

Place in the fridge to chill.

Place the philly, vanilla essence and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth. Do not overbeat or the cheesecake will get air bubbles in it and will collapse once cooked.

Add egg and mix well.

Fold in the flour.

Add the mango juice and mix well.

Place a level tbspn of mix ontop of the base. Add half of a sliced peach and then place another tbspn ontop, covering the peach.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Leave the cakes to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar.

Serve cold with a dollop of cream.

Tips:

You can freeze cheesecakes!!! yayyy!!!

If you dont want to buy the tinned mango, just use real mango (smush it up), or a mango syrup. I wouldnt use juice, it would be too runny. You could probably use mango baby food as well.

Gingernuts would make an awesome alternative as a base.

You dont need to add the peaches, I just had them on hand. You could use chopped up mango as well.

Enjoy!!! :)