I am a real fan of nuts and pistachios are one on my favs but as they are quite pricey they are mainly a treat when baking. These didn’t use as much nuts as I expected only 80g and little extra for the brittle. I love the taste of pistachios, they give off such an exotic vibe, their vibrant green colour it’s so beautiful and they have such a lovely distinctive flavour.
These cheesecakes didn’t look that vibrant but the pistachio brittle did finish it off.
The flavour was quite subtle, next time I think I would add a lot more pistachios in. The original recipe did call for lime zest and juice I didn’t use this as there was sour cream in the mix and I thought this would give the cheesecake a sour taste, I have usually used double cream in cheesecakes and not sour cream so wasn’t sure how this would turn out. I thought by adding the lime would encourage that sour taste and I didn’t want the cheesecake to be overpowered by the taste of lime.
In the end the cheesecakes didn’t taste sour I couldn’t taste the sour in the cheesecake. Next time I think I would add the lime to give it that extra lift.
The cheesecakes texture came out better then I expected as I found the mixture a little runny compared to other baked cheesecakes I’ve made. They are a very elegant and sophisticated desert and a real treat I will be making them again.
- For the base
- 130g - digestive biscuits
- 40g - unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp - sugar
- For the filling
- 375g - cream cheese at room temperature
- 125g - sour cream at room temperature
- 100g - caster sugar
- 2 - medium eggs at room temperature
- 80g - pistachio finely ground
- For the brittle
- 1 cup - sugar
- 1/4 cup - water
- 1/4 cup - pistachios (chopped if you want)
- 1. Grease and line a 12 cup base tray.
- 2. In a microwavable bowl add the butter and cook for 1min until butter in totally melted. Meanwhile break the biscuits down and in a food processor process until fine. Place in bowl with butter add the sugar and mix until combined.
- 3. Place over 11/2 tablespoons of the base mixture into the 12 cup pan. Then place in the fridge to cool whilst making the cheesecake mix.
- 4. Preheat the oven to 160°C. In a stand mixer or hand mixer add the cream cheese and sour cream and beat, add the sugar and beat until combined then add the ground pistachio and mix well. On low speed add the eggs, one at a time, scraping sides after each additions. Do not overmix. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and tins .
- 5. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn oven off and leave the oven door slightly ajar, let cheesecakes cool in the oven for 2 to 3 hours then place in the fridge to cool completely before serving.
- For the brittle
- 1. In a heavy based pan (not non-stick). Add the sugar and water in heavy small saucepan over until it comes to a deep amber colour, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan. Stir nuts (I chopped mine) into caramel and immediately pour onto prepared sheet. Working quickly and carefully (caramel is very hot and hardens fast), press tip of small knife into edges of caramel and gently stretch in all directions to form very thin sheet, approximately 12 by 10 inches. Cool brittle completely, then break into pieces.
- Break brittle into irregular pieces.
