Pistachio Cherry Cheesecake Tart
I’m well behind with recipe posts – I must be having about 3 more recipes queued to be published. I just lack the time to finish editing them just yet, being involved in so many offline projects that I hardly have time for anything else. But I’m here and not going anywhere, always here to post recipes, answer to comments, help and offer my support when you need it. I wouldn’t miss the fun on the blog for anything in this world!
This pistachio cherry cheesecake tart is something I quickly made a few days ago out of a pistachio paste leftover! I seem to have fallen in love with pistachio lately – the color and delicate taste is something I just can’t get off my mind. It’s truly inspiring and it offers so many flavor combo options! This right here is adapted after a recipe by the one and only Pierre Herme. His mosaic cheesecake is something out of this world – beautiful and packed with flavor! But I only had a bit of pistachio paste leftover and no shelled pistachio at all, so I had to adapt. I decided I wanted to keep the flavor mix as it is and only work on the layers themselves, adjusting quantities and proportions.
What I ended up with is a delicious, creamy and rich dessert that looks like a tart, has the texture of a cheesecake and the taste of a cake. Wholewheat biscuits for the crust, pistachio paste for the filling, cherry jelly for the topping – now that’s one delicious combination!
Pistachio Cherry Cheesecake Tart
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 200 g graham crackers
- 20 g powdered sugar
- 100 g butter (melted)
- Pistachio paste:
- 100 g pistachio (peeled)
- 65 g sugar
- 35 ml water
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- Filling:
- 600 g cream cheese
- 200 g sweetened condensed milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- The pistachio paste from above
- 150 g sour cherries
- 40 g sugar
- 100 ml water
- 3 g gelatin + 15ml cold water
- Whipped cream for serving
Instructions
- Crust:
- Place the crackers in a food processor and pulse until ground into a fine powder.
- Add the sugar and butter and mix well.
- Transfer the mixture into a tart pan and press it well on the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Place aside.
- Pistachio paste:
- Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and cook to 114-116C.
- Remove from heat and stir in the pistachio, mixing well until the sugar recrystalizes and the pistachio is coated in a white layer of sugar.
- Transfer the pistachio in a food processor and add the oil. Pulse until the paste is smooth and creamy. It may take a few minutes.
- Filling:
- Combine the cherries with sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes then carefully drain the cherries.
- Arrange the cherries on the bottom of the tart crust. Continue to cook the cherry juice until reduced by half.
- Combine the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, salt and pistachio paste in a bowl. Mix well.
- Pour the filling into the crust and bake in the preheated oven at 170C for 35 minutes or until the center looks set.
- Allow to cool down in the pan then transfer on a serving plate.
- Bloom the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes then melt it and mix it with the cherry juice you made earlier. Pour the juice over the cheesecake then allow it to set in the fridge.
- Decorate the cheesecake with whipped cream and chopped pistachio.
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