Badam cheesecake
Cheesecake is one of my favourite desserts and this version has everything a cheesecake needs: crisp, buttery filo layers, a nutty base layer and a creamy cheesecake filling with flecks of rose petal. A great make-ahead dessert to bake and leave in the fridge the night before.
Ingredients
For the filo base and sides
- 1 pack filo pastry
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú unsalted butter
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 orange, zest only (reserve the juice)
For the nutty base
- 225g/8oz digestive biscuits
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú shelled pistachios
- 110g/4oz unsalted butter, melted
- pinch salt
For the filling
- 900g/2lb full-fat cream cheese
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 150ml/¼ pint soured cream
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 3 medium free-range eggs
- 1 organic rose, petals removed
- ½ tsp rose extract
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú pistachios, roughly chopped
For the syrup
- 1 orange, juice only
- 3 cardamom pods, crushed
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú caster sugar
Method
Start by preheating the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Cut the readymade filo sheets in half (to make squares).
Put the butter, cinnamon and orange zest in a pan and heat until melted and mixed well. Brush the inside of a 20cm/8in deep loose-bottomed cake tin with the flavoured butter.
Lay a sheet of the filo in the tin and brush it all over with the butter. Add another sheet of filo, moving clockwise around the tin as you lay the sheets so that you cover all the sides, again brushing with butter. Repeat this until the base and sides are completely covered with buttered filo.
To make the nutty base, put the biscuits and pistachios in a food processor and blend to a fine, even crumb. Tip into a bowl, pour in the melted butter, add the salt and mix until you have the texture of wet sand. Tip into the prepared tin and using the back of a spoon, press into an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.
Lower the oven temperature to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1.
To make the filling, put the cream cheese and caster sugar in a bowl and mix. Add the soured cream, plain flour and eggs and mix to combine. Sprinkle in the rose petals and rose extract and mix well.
Pour onto the biscuity filo base and smooth the top. Tap the tin sharply on the worktop to remove any air pockets. Top with the chopped pistachios and bake for 1–1½ hours, or until the filling is set but still wobbles in the middle.
Once cooked, leave the oven door ajar so that the oven cools down slowly. Leave the cheesecake in the oven until cold.
To make the syrup, put the orange juice in a saucepan with enough water to make 100ml/3½fl oz liquid. Add the crushed cardamom pods and caster sugar. Mix it all together and then put over a high heat. As soon as the mixture boils, turn the heat down and continue to heat to allow the volume of liquid to reduce to half and form a thicker syrup.
Take the cheesecake out of the cold oven and drizzle the syrup around the edges into the layers of filo and on top of the nuts. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours before devouring. Serve with some extra rose syrup and pouring cream, if you like.
