“There’s your karma ripe as peaches.”
Jack Kerouac
Nothing inspires like stone fruit and foodie tweets! This tart was meant to be and touched all my favourite bases – fruit, bake, flavour, colours, texture … everything captured in this hugely satisfying Peach Pistachio Ricotta Cheesecake Tart. Smooth and satiny like a cheesecake but with far fewer calories, set brilliantly, the peach pairing well with the pistachios, and a subtle orange flavour pleasing the palette!
Just as I thought the stone fruit season here had drawn to a close, I was delighted to see some delicious peaches and loads of plums still showing up in the bazaar.Of course I hurried home with some, and with a bit of good luck, created this Peach Pistachio Ricotta Cheesecake Tart … an original recipe that I was pleased as punch with!
The other day, soul sistah Jamie tweeted that she had a plum ricotta bake on her list of things to do; she got me thinking instantly! Three days later … TADA … this Peach Pistachio Ricotta Cheesecake Tart was born! {Jamie & I spent a great deal of time last night discussing ricotta tart recipes. Just what I love about food blogging – similar wavelengths!}
The tart was the ray of sunshine in my otherwise packed day. Our little new pooch, Coco, is keeping me on my toes 24 X 7, growing NAUGHTIER by the minute! I had forgotten that a pup has SO MUCH ENERGY and has the potential to drive me to tears at times! But goodness, she’s a C.U.T.E. girl!
She’s the proud possession of the teen, who struts her on the arm, showering her with love. As expected, neither of the kids can be shoved out of bed early to take her out… so all the dirty works landed on my platter!!
Oh she is charming, photogenic and a bundle of joy! Those eyes can melt all my annoyance at the mess my garden and home is in … she shreds everything she can lay her little teeth on! Sigh …
Right, food talk again! I had plums in the fridge too and though I googled for ricotta and plum ideas, leafing through an old cookbook I saw a ricotta kiwi tart. From that point onwards the mind wandered off onto an untrodden path … that’s the way stone fruit inspire me in!
Why shouldn’t I do a peach ricotta bake like a cheesecake? Saw some pistachios on the rack. Hmmm … why shouldn’t the base have some for a change? My favourite nuts added beautiful specks of green to the tart shell and subtle flavour too, tying up nicely with the peaches!
One thought led to another, and using this pâte sucrée from my Vanilla Plum Frangipane Almond Tart as a base, I set off. Oats – yes, flour – yes, pistachios – yes please! Experimentation with the Thermomix on hand is easy; you can throw in some more of this and that to get a firmer pastry dough … just what I did, and just what I love.
The pastry was a little soft as the weather is still very warm and humid, so I gently rolled it out & and patted it with my fingers to line the tin. No trouble though as I pushed and patched the pastry, then allowed it to chill in the freezer for 15 minutes while the oven preheated.
The filling was just experimentation too. I made ricotta the day Jamie tweeted about the plum ricotta tart, and let it drain in my curd cheese maker {love this contraption!}. I ran it in the Thermomix, adding stuff randomly, including some candied orange slices I had made last year … and got a satiny smooth, cake batter like filling. 
Happy Monday to you wonderful folk! It’s a good beginning to my week here. Bundled the kids off to school, tralalalala, fed the forever hungry pooch, turned on the radio to the ‘are you crazy’ levels, got on air and won a wonderful Body Shop gift hamper from Sarthak @ HIT 95 FM … and the weeks looking GOOD!
Recipe: Peach Pistachio Ricotta Cheesecake Tart
Summary: Smooth and satiny like a cheesecake but with far fewer calories, set brilliantly, the peach pairing well with the pistachios, and a subtle orange flavour pleasing the palette!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes + chilling time
Ingredients:
- 1 recipe pistachio pâte sucrée {recipe follows}
- Filling
- 240gms ricotta, drained well {homemade recipe here}
- 200ml low fat cream
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 5 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 1-2 slices of candied orange {optional}
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 4-5 ripe peaches, each sliced into 8-10 sections { I left the peel on}
- 1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
- 1 tbsp apricot jam, melted
- Pistachio Pâte Sucrée
- 125gms plain flour
- 50gms oats
- 50gms pistachios
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 100gm unsalted butter, chilled, diced
- 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
Method:
- I used a 12X 4 rectangular loose bottomed tart pan, and 2 small 3″ loose bottomed round tart tins.
- Pistachio Pâte Sucrée
- Whiz the plain flour, oats, pistachios, sugar, salt, baking powder and scraped vanilla bean in the processor. {Thermomix: Speed 10/ 20 seconds}
- Add the chilled butter and whiz briefly until you get a crumb like mix. {Thermomix: Speed 10, 15 seconds}
- Add the vanilla extract and egg and briefly pulse till it begins to come together {Thermomix: Speed 6 / 10 seconds}
- Turn onto work surface and pat together into a ball, handling the dough as little as possible. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes to help the dough relax.
- Preheat the oven to 190C.
- Roll out the dough and line the tart pan, or if the dough is still ‘softish’, pat into pan {I patted it in as the weather was very warm and the pastry firm, but still soft}. Patch any broken bits with leftover dough, making sure there are no gaps visible.
- Bake blind {line the unbaked shell with aluminum foil and place bean/pie weights on top} for 10 minutes. Remove weights and foil and continue to bake for a further 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t over brown. Cool in tart pans on rack.
- In the meantime, make the ricotta filling.
- Whiz the ricotta in the processor until smooth, then add the cream, eggs, vanilla bean, sugar, candied peel if using, and blend until satiny smooth. With the processor running, add the cornflour 1/2 tbsp at a time and process. {Thermomix: Add all above ingredients together and run TM – Speed 10/ 30 seconds}.
- Lower the oven temperature to 180C.
- Assemble the tart
- Line the base of the tart pan with aluminum foil just in case there are cracks in the dough {else place a tray underneath}
- Scatter the base of the tart shell with 2 sliced peaches, and pour the ricotta filling over. Top the ricotta with the remaining peach slices, arranging in a pattern if you like, and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the ricotta is firm to touch.
- Remove from oven and immediately brush the top with the the melted apricot jam {this seals the moisture in and keeps the fruit looking good}.
- Cool completely on racks, and chill for 3-4 hours before serving!
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
Impossible not to love such a heavenly combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
wow, i love this tart, deliciously done Deeba. Any MacTweets challenge this month? The egg whites are all aged to go!
jehanne@thecookingdoctor.co.uk´s last [type] ..Potato Almond Brioche
Sorry about the delay Jehanne … yes, of course there is one. Must have it out today! Thanks for stopping by!
Truly a treat from heaven:) Beautifully made and captured..
Reva
Your bake goods always make my mouth water and this is working double time.
Ken⏐hungry rabbit´s last [type] ..saffron-apricot popsicles
You are the stone fruit queen! What a fabulous combination and I love the cheesecake element.
Lora´s last [type] ..Funfetti Macarons at Frosting for the Cause
Oh la la, these cheesecakes are stunning. I love the flavours! I’ll trade you a slice of mine for a slice of yours
*kisses* HH
Heavenly Housewife´s last [type] ..Ottolenghi Cheesecake Challenge
YUM, that looks totally amazing! Gorgeous photos.
sara´s last [type] ..Three Fruit-Macadamia Crumble
Gorgeous pics, gorgeous pup. Why am I not surprised you get to clean up after her, while the kids get to cuddle her?
Indu´s last [type] ..Sausage Rolls
I love the two flavors together, and in a tart even better!
The puppy and your daughter are so cute together.
Happy Baking!
Just couldn’t stop gazing at those lovely clicks, Deeba! What lovely crust and perfect cheesecake tarts they are.
oh my gosh- that pup is ADORABLE! and the tarts, amazing! as per usual. thanks for sharing!
-meg
@ http://clutzycooking.blogspot.com
oh wow! that pup is adorable! and the tarts look amazing too, as per usual! thanks for sharing!
-meg
@ http://clutzycooking.blogspot.com
Meg´s last [type] ..Frosting for the Cause: Pineapple Dump Cake
Coco rocks as usual… He s a cutie pie. The tart looks so packed with flavors and yum
It’s uncanny how many years ago I took a same set ..series of photos of my dark haired daughter w/ her very long haired black poodle..:) You brought back a flood of memories..
Beautiful girl! and
tart:)I always love your food styling and accoutrements also.
Monique´s last [type] ..Soul Food #102~
These look truly gorgeous…very well done! I bought some ricotta and haven’t used it but I now know how I am going to put that bag of pluots I have in the fridge to good use! Lovely photos!
Can I shift in with you? Please. Pretty please.
Shumaila´s last [type] ..Recipe Swap: Triple M Sandwich Cookies- Molasses, Masala & Marshmallows
I recently make a ricotta and peach tart and looking at this I am craving for it again. Ricotta with stone fruit works wonder
kankana´s last [type] ..Rasam with Pear (Tangy Tomato based Indian Soup) for Divya of Flavour Fiesta!
So absolutely Amazing!!!
Kathleen´s last [type] ..Gringo Enchiladas
Great recipe, pretty daughter, adorable dog. Now its time to dig out the all natural dog treat recipe for training times..
Little Coco is C.U.T.E. and so are these tarts.
Such a cute peach tart, almost as cute as the puppy but nowhere as cute as your daughter:-). You are blessed with so much talentyou always inspire me with your creations
Oh wow, this looks amazing! I love peaches this time of year – and to pair them with this ricotta cheesecake is genius!
Hope your week keeps getting better and better – hard to top a Monday like that =)
Peggy´s last [type] ..Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
This is amazing! Each one of your recipes is so gorgeous! So decadent!
and of course your photos are outstanding!!
chinmayie @ love food eat´s last [type] ..Stir Fried Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce
Gorgeous! Both the tart and the pooch!
Sally Prosser´s last [type] ..Festival food
It’s not ‘just’ a cheesecake,it looks,rather it IS a piece of art!:-)
Fahad Khan´s last [type] ..From Streets Of India: Just Chaat
Babes, my ricotta and plum tart came out scrumptious but why oh why does yours always come out so much prettier?! Gorgeous and you inspire me to start over and remake it all purty! And LOVE the pup! Too huggable! I hope you are surviving… and taking well deserved breaks and treating yourself to another slice of pie.
Jamie´s last [type] ..LEMON, BLUEBERRY AND POPPYSEED MUFFINS
Some really stunning clicks! They are making my mouth water….;-)) And I love the tarts prepared with seasonal fruit.
Angie@Angiesrecipes´s last [type] ..Linzertorte with Port Stewed Damsons
Oh my goodness! That pup is what I would call “unfortunately cute”… meaning that she’ll get away with murder. But that’s ok, because she’s adorable!!!
Dear Deeba I love these little tarts look amazingg!! And II lov e your puppy!! I know you are crazy for him! LOLgloria
gloria´s last [type] ..Apple frangipane Tart
Wow Deeba…your daughter is beautiful. I’m sure this tart went down very welll with the family! You’re lucky you’re still getting stone fruit trickling through
Sukaina´s last [type] ..Rosemary Bread Rolls Stuffed With Cheese and Chilli Paste and a Giveaway
Wow, the texture that this creates is great. All the flavors combined form a very appetizing treat.
Such a pretty tart- if only I could have a tiny little piece..I love peaches.
Your pup is adorable..muaah!
Tanvi@SinfullySpicy´s last [type] ..Masala – Everyday Indian Curry Paste
Coco is such a cutie. He’s adorable and cuddly. Please post more pictures of Coco . By the way, the Peach Pistachio Ricotta Cheesecake Tart looks like a yummy treat. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Ruth Lopez´s last [type] ..Australia Travel Deals
That pup is so adorable you’d have to forgive him anything. I have yet to have a local peach this year, but this would be a fabulous way to dress it up. It looks luscious.
Barbara Bakes´s last [type] ..Morning Parfaits with Coconut Cherry Granola
I have fallen in love…with the pics you have posted here. Each one is such a delight to watch. Kudos on the post!
nice