Most Asians aren’t a big fan of icing – it is too sweet and has no interesting flavour so when it comes to making celebration cakes for them I have to face the challenge of creating something to fit their palettes that still have a wow factor.

This mango cheesecake was made for my aunt’s 60th birthday. Given the party would be a room full of Chinese people I decided to go with something that I was almost certain everyone would love – mango. With the Alphonso mango in season, I ordered 5 boxes and set a design that would involve making flowers out of mango jelly. I wanted layers of sliced mango and other fruits to sit on top of the Madagascan vanilla cheesecake, and I also wanted to be able to see the fruits so I set the whole layer with Agar, which is a) very popular in chinese desserts and b) wonderfully transparent when set.

One of my favourite things about making cake for family is the fact that I get to taste the final result and share the experience with the people I made it for. This cake was so popular that not a single crumb went to waste and I went home a happy baker.