I’m sure you’ve tired by now of hearing about the wonders of Maui, but I have to go on just a moment longer to tell you about the raspberries. The Kula black raspberries, to be exact. Imagine the sweetest raspberry you can, but smaller, with a hue reminiscent of a blackberry and a fine coating of raspberry fuzz. Imagine clutching these jewels in your hand, weaving your way through tall and thorny raspberry vines, ducking under encroaching palm fronds, feeling the pulse of the earth under your bare feet. That, for me, is raspberry picking on Maui.
Which is why I leapt at the opportunity to make something seasonal with these red orbs of yum. This pumpkin raspberry cheesecake is the best of both worlds—the bright, dense flavors of berries mellowed with honey and swirled into pumpkin’s sweetness. Vanilla bean and cardamom came to play, too, within the honeyed walls of a cardamom graham cracker crust.
Though it’s got a cheesecake filling, the recipe is designed for a much shallower tart pan, rather than a pie dish. Accordingly, it’s got a tart’s elegance and lightness.
I used a simple swirling technique that Martha Stewart taught me (‘cause #tradition), which only requires you to dot the unbaked tart with circles of raspberry puree and then use a chopstick to give them little tails. GIF below, for your viewing and instructional pleasure.
If you don’t have a squeeze bottle to make the circles, I have full faith in your ability to dollop with care, or to find somewhere to buy said squeeze bottle.
The tart will gently rise in its bake time, and comes out light and tender.
Highly recommend serving it with honey whipped cream, and a few extra sprinkles of cardamom. The spice lends an extra note of sophistication to an already lovely dessert.
PUMPKIN RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE WITH CARDAMOM GRAHAM CRUST.
Ingredients
pumpkin cheesecake filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- scant half cup cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- scant half cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
raspberry puree
- 6 ounces organic Driscolls raspberries or other fresh raspberries
- 3 tablespoons honey
cardamom graham crust
- 10 graham crackers
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 pinches sea salt
honey whipping cream for garnish
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
cardamom graham crust
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In a food processor or blender, crumble graham crackers and pulse until they reach a fine crumb. Don’t over pulse, or they’ll turn into flour.
- In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, vanilla bean, cardamom, and sea salt. Toss to mix dry ingredients evenly. Pour melted butter over the top, and work through until you’ve got the texted of damp sand.
- Press into bottom of 9-10" tart pan and distribute evenly along bottom and up the sides, using the bottom of a measuring cup to distribute. Pack tightly.
- Bake for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool.
raspberry puree
- While crust bakes and cools, blend raspberries and honey till they’re mostly broken down and liquid. Then strain using a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Discard seeds. Pour strained raspberry puree into a squeeze bottle and set aside.
pumpkin cheesecake filling
- Reduce oven heat to 325º. Butter or oil a 9-10" tart pan with removable bottom.
- Using an electric mixer, beat softened cream cheese, brown sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, and sea salt until the sugar is fully integrated and it’s entirely smooth. Add pumpkin and egg, and whip until once again smooth and fluffy.
- Pour into baked graham cracker crust and use a silicone spatula to evenly distribute.
- Now make several concentric circles of 1" dots of raspberry puree, leaving about ½" between each. See photos and GIF above for tutorial. When complete, use the thin end of a chopstick to draw little tails out of each raspberry circle, going in the same direction, all the way around the tart.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 325º, until the tart is just set. Remove and let cool for at least several hours.
- While cooling, make the honey whipped cream. Combine whipping cream and honey in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold in an extra sprinkle of ground cardamom if desired.
- When tart is completely cool, use the removable bottom to press it up and out of its mold. Slice and serve with honey whipped cream!
