Bite-sized Strawberry and Pistachio Cheesecakes
I firmly believe you eat with your eyes and these cute little mouthfuls of strawberry and pistachio are pretty to look at and delicious to eat. Give them a try, they are not difficult and are stored in the freezer. Just pop a strawberry slice on top and they are ready to go. Great for summer parties. Just make sure you have some silicone petit four cases (mine were from Amazon).
Look out for the savoury version, coming later.
Ingredients - makes 12 with enough extra strawberry cheesecake mix to make 2 small desserts.
50g strawberries plus extra for decoration
10g icing sugar plus extra for decoration
40ml double cream plus 2 tbsp extra for decoration
85ml cream cheese
35g pistachio
15g butter
1 extra tsp icing sugar for the nut base
Small basil or mint leaves - optional decoration
Mini silicone petit four cases
Method
Heat oven to 175°c and roast pistachio nuts on a baking sheet for 5 minutes. Cool and chop finely.
Chop strawberries, either with a knife or in a food processor. Press through a sieve to remove seeds. Stir in the 10g icing sugar.
Whip cream until it is a similar consistency to the cream cheese.
Mix the whipped cream, cream cheese and strawberry purée thoroughly. Chill while you prepare the nut base.
Melt the butter and stir in the chopped nuts. Stir in 1 tsp icing sugar. Tip out onto a plate to begin cooling.
Spoon or pipe the strawberry mix into the silicone petit four cases, so that they are 3/4 full. Spoon over nuts to totally cover the top. Chill for 30 minutes or so and then freeze.
To serve. Defrost in the fridge for an hour. Top with some whipped cream rosettes (which can be made ahead and frozen) and a slice of strawberry. They can be kept in the fridge, decorated, for at least 4 hours. Tuck in a basil or mint leaf and dust with icing sugar before serving.
As a small dessert, spoon the cheesecake mix into glasses. Decorate with caramelised pistachio and a strawberry. Good served with strawberry sorbet (homemade or Tesco).
