Stone Fruit Cheesecake
I have eaten
apricots, of course, but I have never baked with them so when I found
this recipe, I saw it as an opportunity to try something new. You
can use any stone fruit you like such as peaches; nectarines; or
plums, if you prefer. There are so many things to love about this
dessert: the multiple layers of flavor; the gorgeous appearance of
the cake, both whole and as slices; and the ease of making it (though
truthfully the preparation does require a time commitment).
Pastry Ingredients:
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking
powder
1 cup cold butter
1 egg, room
temperature
In a large bowl
whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Using a pastry
blender or your fingers, cut/rub in the pieces of butter until the
mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and mix just until
combined. Section off 1/3 of the pastry dough and wrap both pieces
separately in plastic wrap. Put the smaller 1/3 section into the
freezer and the larger 2/3 section into the refrigerator for 30
minutes.
Remove the chilled
pastry dough from the refrigerator and after letting it warm up and
soften a bit, roll it out to fit into a 9-inch springform pan. Pat
the dough into the shape of the pan and tear off any irregular pieces
toward the top of the pan, which can be used to repair any
tears/holes or even out the edges. Don’t worry about it looking
perfect – remember that you are going to be filling it and no one
will see the inside. Re-using the plastic wrap from chilling the
dough the first time, re-cover the dough in the pan and chill for
another 20 minutes.
Filling Ingredients:
5-10 pieces of stone
fruit (apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums), depending on the size
2 cups (16 oz.)
cream cheese
2 eggs, room
temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons
semolina flour*
1 teaspoon vanilla
extract
* The purpose of
this ingredient is that it acts as a binding agent and allegedly
gives the filling a smoother, silkier texture. I didn’t have any
semolina flour on hand and wasn’t willing to buy some just for this
recipe so I used regular flour instead and have no regrets.
Preheat the oven to
350 degrees. Cut your stone fruit in half and remove the stones. In
the bowl of a stand mixer combine the cream cheese, eggs, sugar,
flour, and vanilla until “smooth”.** Remove the chilled pastry
dough from the refrigerator and fill with the cream cheese mixture,
then arrange the halves of fruit cut side down on top of the filling
layer. Remove the frozen 1/3 piece of pastry dough from the freezer
and using a cheese grater, grate the frozen dough directly on top of
the cheesecake. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool
for 1 hour and then serve, or chill for 2 extra hours and serve cold.
I ate it at both temperatures and while both were good, I preferred
it slightly warm.
**Honestly, my
filling never attained what I would call “smoothness”; rather, it
reached a point where it was still grainy and several minutes of
mixing on higher and higher speeds did not seem to change the
appearance. In the end, I just made sure that my ingredients were
all blended together and hoped for the best. Perhaps if I had used
semolina flour or a food processor I could have achieved a “smoother”
filling, but I seriously doubt anyone will notice or care one way or
the other after you bake and serve this cake.
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