Description
A decadent fusion dessert combining creamy pistachio cheesecake with a crispy kataifi crust, soaked in aromatic honey syrup and topped with crushed pistachios.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Crust:
- 8 oz kataifi dough (shredded phyllo), thawed
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 24 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup shelled pistachios, finely ground
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 strip orange peel
- 1/4 cup crushed pistachios for garnish
Instructions
1. Prepare the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a 9-inch springform pan with melted butter.
- Loosely separate kataifi dough and mix with 1/4 cup melted butter. Press evenly into pan bottom to form crust. Bake for 10 minutes until golden. Cool.
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add ground pistachios, eggs one at a time, heavy cream, vanilla, and cardamom. Mix until combined.
- Pour filling over crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes until set but slightly jiggly in center. Cool completely, then refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Simmer honey, water, cinnamon, and orange peel for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool to room temperature.
- Remove cheesecake from pan. Drizzle honey syrup over top, allowing it to flood edges. Garnish with crushed pistachios before serving.
Notes
You can customize the seasonings to taste.