Gorgeous and green and oh-so-delicious, this pistachio cheesecake is made with sour cream in the filling for a silky smooth texture, plus a sour cream topping for a perfectly creamy finish.
Yield: one 9-inch cheesecake (about 12 servings)
Cook Time: 1 hourhour
Total Time: 12 hourshours
Ingredients
For Crust:
8ounces/ 200gvanilla wafer cookies
5tablespoons/ 50gpistachio flour or very finely ground pistachios
2tablespoons/ 24gbrown sugar
pinchsalt
5tablespoons/ 70gbutter, melted
For Filling:
16ounces/ 454gfull-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
⅔cup/ 133ggranulated sugar
1teaspoonfine sea salt, reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if using salted pistachio butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch deep cheesecake pan with removable bottom or an 8-inch springform pan; line bottom with a round of parchment paper if desired.
If using whole pistachios, pulse in a food processor until very finely ground. Add cookies, sugar, and salt and pulse until you have very fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse until evenly moistened. Press into bottom and 2.5" up the sides of prepared cheesecake pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes or until set, then remove from oven and let cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
In the bowl of a food processor or a stand mixer, pulse room temperature cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add salt and flour and pulse again. Add eggs, two at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary to be sure all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Add sour cream, pistachio butter, and pistachio extract and pulse until even in color and no white streaks remain (remember to scrape the bowl again!) Add a drop of two of green food coloring if you'd like.
Pour batter into cooled crust; it should come within about 1/2" of the top edge of the crust. Place pan on a baking sheet and place in preheated oven.
While cheesecake is baking, whisk together sour cream and sugar until smooth. Ideally this mixture should be smooth and pourable but not liquidy; if it gets too warm and runny, pop it in the fridge until you need it (particularly if you're using creme friache, it needs to be chilled or it gets way too thin).
After about 50 to 60 minutes, when edges are puffed and the center of cheesecake is set but still a little bit jiggly, remove from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes until the puffed edges settle a bit, then pour sour cream mixture on top of cheesecake, spreading into an even layer. The crust should be tall enough to keep it from overflowing the sides.
Return to oven to bake for another 5 to 8 minutes until topping is set, then remove to a wire rack and let cool completely to room temperature. Lightly cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or ideally overnight.
Before serving, sprinkle edges with chopped pistachios. Slice into wedges (wipe your knife between each slice for the cleanest cuts) and serve chilled or at room temperature. Cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
*It is VERY important that all your refrigerated ingredients be at room temperature, this means your cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream. Doing so will ensure a silky smooth filling. I recommend taking your ingredients out of the fridge at least 2 hours before you bake, longer in cooler temperatures.