Today I want to propose a fabulous dessert: baked pistachio cheesecake, also known as Pistachio Käsekuchen. I adore baked cheesecakes, and you can find them in all flavors on my blog, but I hadn’t tried the pistachio one yet, so here is the recipe for you.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 6 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 14-16
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: German
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 pinch salt
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 26 oz quark (or ricotta)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup rice starch
- 1/4 cup butter (melted)
- 3/4 cup pistachio spread
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or a fresh vanilla bean)
- 1 oz pistachio spread
- 4 strawberries (or raspberries)
- to taste crushed pistachios
Tools
- 1 Electric whisk
- 1 Springform pan 10 in
- 1 Parchment paper
Steps
Start preparing your baked pistachio cheesecake by making the pastry: pour flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon, then add the egg and soft butter and knead for a couple of minutes with your hands until you get a compact dough. Be careful not to overwork the dough as it will warm up with the heat of your hands. At this point, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Now line the 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper, covering both the base and the sides as the dough will rise quite high, and proceed with preparing the cream. Start by separating the egg whites from the yolks, whip the whites until stiff peaks form and set aside. Now whip the yolks with the sugar until you get a foamy and light cream. Then add the quark, sour cream, melted butter, and starch. Now, set aside the electric whisk and gently fold in the whipped egg whites with a wooden spoon, incorporating them from the bottom to the top, being careful not to deflate them.
Then divide the cream into two equal parts and add the vanilla extract to one and the pistachio spread to the other, mixing both well.
Now, take the dough and roll it out to about 12 inches in diameter and line the pan and sides. Now prick the base with a fork and pour in the first vanilla cream. Level it well and pour in the second pistachio cream, leveling it well too, and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 35 minutes.
At this point, take the pan and make a shallow cut around the circumference, leaving 0.8 inches from the edge. Let the cheesecake rest for 10 minutes out of the oven and return it to the oven for another 20-25 minutes. Complete the cooking and leave the baked cheesecake in the turned-off and slightly open oven for at least 5-6 hours, preferably overnight.
The next day, decorate your cheesecake with about 1 oz of pistachio spread, crushed pistachios, and strawberries or raspberries. Let it rest for at least an hour in the fridge and enjoy your well-chilled baked pistachio cheesecake. It’s truly spectacular.
If you also love baked cheesecakes or käsekuchen, take a look at my many RECIPES HERE.
Saby advises…
The choice to divide the cream into two parts and add pistachio spread to only one is intentional, to contrast the intense pistachio flavor with that of vanilla, because after all, it is still a cheesecake, so I wanted the cheese flavor to be noticeable. But if you prefer, you can use double the amount of pistachio spread and fill the entire cream with it.
