Mango cheesecake with a basil lemon syrup

Mango cheesecake with lemon basil glaze on Flickr by beFOODled.

How did the Transformer tapas party go? It was so fun, let me tell you the story starting with dessert. Pictured above is S's birthday cake, which Em and I made the night before the party. As you can see, we decorated it with transformers Arcee and Decepticon Rumble, meant to represent S and I as we battle through life for the fate of the universe.

The cake was so delicious. It's a Giada De Laurentiis recipe that you can find here. I cut it into 16 pieces and drizzled the lemon basil syrup over each slice. Em found mango puree that already had sugar in it, so we only used 1/4 cup of sugar instead of the 3/4 cup in the original recipe. I also found some nice orange and pistachio biscotti for the crust.

It turned out really well considering this was my first time making cheesecake. I just have to figure out how to wrap the foil more tightly around the base. The crust got a little soggy and I wasn't able to pick it up very well. Of course, by that time I had had a lot of wine and so had everyone else, so I don't think anyone noticed ;)