Servings: 9 mini cheesecakes
Calories: 263kcal
Ingredients
Crust
- 3 oz graham crackers, crushed 85 g
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 42 g
Filling
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese, block-style, room temperature 226 g (1 brick)
- 1/3 cup pistachio cream, smooth 80 g
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted 16 g, more to taste
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup cold heavy cream 120 g
Instructions
Crust
- Mix the crust. Stir the crushed graham crackers and melted butter together in a small bowl until evenly damp and sandy. Squeeze a small handful in your palm — if it holds shape, you're good.3 oz graham crackers, crushed, 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- Press into liners. Line a standard muffin tin with 9 paper liners. Divide the crumb mixture evenly between them (about 14g per liner) and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Firm pressure here matters — loose crusts crumble when you peel the liner. Chill while you make the filling.
Filling
- Soften the pistachio cream. Set up a small double boiler — a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with an inch of simmering water, bowl not touching the water. Add the pistachio cream and stir constantly. As soon as it's about halfway melted, take the bowl off the heat. Keep stirring off the heat — residual warmth finishes melting the rest. Target: soft and pourable, but barely warm to the touch. You don't want to cook it, or it can split.1/3 cup pistachio cream, smooth
- Beat the cream cheese. In a medium bowl, beat the room-temperature cream cheese with the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides.8 oz full-fat cream cheese, block-style, room temperature, 2 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 pinch salt
- Add the pistachio cream. Pour in the softened pistachio cream and beat again until uniform and lump-free. Scrape down once more.
- Whip the cream. In a separate bowl, whip the cold heavy cream to soft-medium peaks — peaks that hold but gently flop over at the tip. Don't overwhip; stiff cream folds in patchy.1/2 cup cold heavy cream
- Lighten the base. Stir about a third of the whipped cream into the pistachio cream cheese mixture to loosen it.
- Fold in the rest. Add the remaining whipped cream and fold gently with a spatula until no white streaks remain. The mixture should be smooth and pipeable.
- Taste and adjust. Fold in more powdered sugar or salt if needed. Pistachio creams vary in sweetness, so trust your tongue here.
- Fill the liners. Spoon or pipe the filling over the chilled crusts, dividing evenly between the 9 liners. Smooth the tops or leave them swirled.
- Chill. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours so the filling firms up and the flavors come together. Overnight is better — the texture sets more cleanly and you can peel the liners without dragging the crust.
- Top and serve. Finish with a thin drizzle of warmed pistachio cream loosened with a splash of heavy cream, some chopped roasted pistachios, a swirl of dark chocolate ganache, or a dollop of whipped cream.
Notes
- Makes 9 muffin-sized mini cheesecakes.
- The filling is fairly soft, so if these are going to sit at room temperature for a longer period, it's best to leave them in liners and let your eaters eat straight from liners or unmold themselves.
- Macros calculated without toppings.
Nutrition
Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.1g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 21.4g | Fiber: 0.5g
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