Lucy Mathieson: Mini Peach & Passionfruit Cheesecake Tarts.

Things are heating up in the kitchen AND in Mamamia’s Food Blogger Idol competition.

After receiving hundreds of amazing and delicious entries from some extremely talented home cooks, and after deliberating for many hours, we managed to narrow the list down to the five. And now? It’s time to vote.

So let’s meet our finalists…

Anyone who knows me really well also knows that I am a total and utter self-confessed yoghurtaholic. I quite literally eat yoghurt every single day! And so, when I heard about the Mamamia and Rachel’s Gourmet Low Fat Yoghurt Food Blogger Idol Competition, I just knew I had to give it a go. Not because I thought I had even the smallest, slightest chance of getting any votes, but purely because any chance to whip on my apron, grab my wooden spoon and use one of my favourite foods as my baking inspiration was just too good an opportunity to ignore!

And so, I spent a few days (ok, ok… a lot of days!!) searching Pinterest for some recipe inspiration. I knew I wanted to make a sweet recipe, because, well let’s face it… if my sweet and savoury side got into a fight, my sweet side would win hands-down every single time! I finally narrowed it down to a few ideas- pannacotta, parfait, cheesecake and sponge cake with yoghurt filling. I pretty quickly wiped out the sponge cake idea, because we all know the best people at making sponges are grandmas (and no-one can compete with a nana in the kitchen!).

Finally after a few sleepless nights and ridiculous amounts of taste testing the different varieties of Rachel’s Gourmet Low Fat Yoghurts, I decided to make Mini Passionfruit and Peach Cheesecake Tarts with Passionfruit Curd, White Chocolate and Crushed Pistachios. The Peach and Vine Ripened Passionfruit yoghurt was my favourite variety, although the Mango and Madagascan Vanilla gave it a serious run for it’s money!

And so began the baking…. I started off by making a simple biscuit crumb and pressing it into mini, loose-bottomed tart pans. Then I made the cream cheese filling using the Peach and Vine Ripened Passionfruit yoghurt. I bought one of the big tubs, which was great because it meant I could happily keep eating it while I baked! I also used light cream cheese to keep in line with the low-fat yoghurt (although let’s be honest… I highly doubt that this dessert is going to be Jenny Craig approved anytime soon!).

Once the cheesecake filling was made, I poured it into the tart pans and placed it into the fridge to set. While the cheesecakes were happily setting, I made the passionfruit curd. ERRRMMAAAGODDD!! Passionfruit curd reminds me so much of my Gran, as she always used to make it when we were little. I remember putting Gran’s curd on my toast in the mornings… which looking back doesn’t seem like the healthiest thing to do! Making curd is so easy and it lasts a long time, which means you can pop it on top of your favourite dessert, use it to make ice cream, or even whip up a batch of passionfruit meringue cupcakes! The final steps of the baking process simply involved melting the white chocolate and crushing the pistachios in a food processor. And if you are wondering if I melted extra white chocolate just so I could eat some… then the answer is of course, a big, fat, massive YES!

And so concluded my entry into the Mamamia and Rachel’s Gourmet Low Fat Yoghurt Food Blogger Idol Competition. I loved this competition because it made me think about how I could incorporate one of my favourite ingredients to make something delicious… and of course sweet! But as always, my philosophy is that I bake because I love it and it’s something that I’m passionate about. And while I may bake food for other people or for fun competitions, the actual process of baking is purely for me to challenge myself, enjoy what I’m doing… And of course lick the chocolate covered spoon!

Mini Peach & Passionfruit Cheesecake Tarts with Passionfruit Curd, White Chocolate & Crushed Pistachios

Ingredients

Mini Cheesecakes:

biscuits, but any would be fine)

• 140g butter, melted

• 500g cream cheese (I used the ‘light’ variety)

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 lemons, finely grated and juiced

• 1 tbs gelatine powder

• 300g Rachel’s Gourmet Low Fat Peach and Passionfruit Yoghurt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Passionfruit Curd:

• 11 passionfruit (or 1 cup pulp)

• 2 large eggs

• 2 large egg yolks

• 100 grams unsalted butter

White Chocolate & Pistachio Bark:

• 150g white chocolate, melted

• 80g pistachios, finely chopped

Instructions

To make the mini cheesecakes:

1. Grease 6 mini tart pans.

2. Crush the biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs.

3. Pour into a bowl.

4. Melt the butter in a microwave or saucepan and drizzle over the biscuit crumbs.

5. Mix together well.

6. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom and sides of the tart pans and place into the fridge.

8. Place the gelatine and lemon juice into a small saucepan over a medium heat.

9. Mix with a fork until completely dissolved.

10. Set aside to cool.

11. When the cream cheese mixture and the gelatine mixture have cooled to the same temperature, beat the gelatine into the cream cheese.

12. Gently mix in the yoghurt.

13. Spoon the mixture evenly amongst the tart pans.

14. Place in the fridge for 4-6 hours (or overnight) to set.

Method

To make the passionfruit curd:

15. Beat the eggs, yolks and sugar together well.

16. Using a sieve, drain the passionfruit juice from the seeds and set both aside separately.

18. Add the egg mixture and the passionfruit juice and continue cooking gently and stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened.

19.  Take the curd away from the heat and mix in the passionfruit seeds.

20. Pour into a sterilised jar and keep in the fridge. To make the white chocolate and pistachio bark:

21. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler on the stovetop.

22. Crush the pistachios in a food processor.

23. Spread the white chocolate along a serving plate and sprinkle with pistachios.

24. Place in the fridge to set.

25. Break into pieces to serve with the cheesecakes.

26. *Alternatively, you may line a tray with baking paper, spread the white chocolate onto that and then sprinkle with pistachios – this makes it really easy to break into small pieces when you are ready to use it.

If you would like to vote for Lucy to be Mamamia’s new Food Blogger, you can vote by clicking HERE.