pistachio

I was at my dad's house this past weekend because I had a wedding nearby and then my cousin's baby shower the next day -- so we had our Father's Day celebration a day early. My dad likes me to cook for him for his birthday. I like baking a bit more than I like cooking, so I made a dessert to go with the meal. He likes pistachios -- so I found a recipe for a white chocolate pistachio cheesecake. And it was good.

Also, I pretended I was Rachael Ray and took pictures of each step to share with you along with the recipe. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I used regular graham crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling
20 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
4 eggs
1 (3.4-oz.) pkg. instant pistachio pudding and pie filling mix
1 (12-oz.) pkg. (2 cups) white vanilla chips
1/2 cup chopped shelled pistachios
Digg Facebook StumbleUpon Twitter Del.ic.ious Reddit
You must be logged in to add this to your Recipe Box

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and 1/4 cup sugar; mix well. Stir in butter. Press crumb mixture in bottom of ungreased 9-inch springform pan.

2. Bake at 350°F. for 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Wrap outside of pan, bottom and sides, with heavy-duty foil.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Beat cream cheese in large bowl at medium speed until creamy. Beat in 3/4 cup sugar until very soft and creamy. Add sour cream and almond extract; beat well. Reduce speed to low; add eggs one at a time, beating just until combined and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition.

4. With wire whisk, beat in pudding mix until well mixed. Stir in vanilla chips. Pour into crust-lined pan. Sprinkle pistachios over top.

5. Bake at 325°F. for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until sides of cheesecake are set and slightly puffed but center still moves slightly when pan is tapped. Cool cheesecake in pan on wire rack for 1 hour. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

6. To serve, remove sides of pan. Cut cheesecake into wedges.

-----------------------------------

Now, I altered the recipe a bit. They didn't have pistachios at the grocery store where my dad lives, so I omitted them. Instead, I used some extra white chocolate chips and melted them down in a saucepan on the stove. White chocolate doesn't melt like normal chocolate, so to get it to the proper consistency I added some vegetable oil -- stirring the whole time until I got the chocolate to drizzle.

Then I made squiggle designs on cookie sheet covered with wax paper and stuck them in the freezer for a few hours, until the cheesecake was pretty cold itself. Then just peel the designs off the paper and set them on the cake. Voila! It's pretty.