Plumcot Cheesecake Tart
One delicious ten-inch tart
Your favorite tart base (For this tart, I use Dori Greenspan’s Shortbread Tart Shell recipe)
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
½ tsp spice of choice (I suggest Chinese Five Spice, but try ginger, allspice, cinnamon or even black pepper)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 whole eggs and one additional yolk
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
6 plumcots, halved, pitted and cut into eight slices each
¼ cup toasted almond slices for garnish
1) Make your tart dough of choice. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Roll to fit a 10” tart pan. Bake in a 400 degree oven for twenty minutes until golden and dry. Let cool slightly.
2) Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
3) In a standing mixer on low speed, mix together the cream cheese, yogurt and granulated sugar until smooth. Stop the mixer and add the vanilla, spice, salt and eggs. Mix again on low until everything is evenly incorporated.
4) Prep the plumcots by cutting them in half, removing the pit and slice them into eight slices each. Toss them in a medium bowl with the dark brown sugar. Arrange the plumcot slices in a circular pattern in the tart shell. They should fit snuggly without overlapping or leaving gaps.
5) Pour the cheesecake batter over the plumcots and bake for 25-30 minutes until the sides of the cheesecake are set and starting to color, but the middle still has a slight wobble when shaken. Turn off the oven. Leave the tart in the oven and prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon for one to two hours.
6) Remove the tart from the oven. Let cool fully on a wire rack. Garnish with the toasted almonds.
7) Let the tart sit at room temperature, or chilled in the refrigerator for at least three hours before serving.
Plumcots – an even 50-50 cross between plums and apricots.
