Ingredients
Crust
- 6 tbsp. shelled pistachios
- 1/4 c cracker crumbs, about 4 large crackers
- 2 tbsp. butter, melted
Cheesecake
- 5 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 oz blue cheese, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Apricot topping
- 1/2 c water
- 18 dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 1/4 c apricot jam
- 1 tbsp. mustard
- 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. thyme
Directions
Crust
- Chop the pistachios in a food processor until fine crumbs, add the cracker crumbs and melted butter. Put a scant tablespoon of mixture per muffin cup and press flat.
Cheesecake
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the cheeses together until smooth, if your soft cheese has a rind leave it on and just mix a little longer. Add the reaming ingredients and beat till smooth and fully combined.
- Put 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of mixture into each muffin cup on top of the pistachio crust, I used an ice cream dishes to help divide the cheese mixture. Lightly drop the tray twice to help flatten the mound of cheese and then use the back of a spoon to spread it more evenly in the cup. Drop the tray a few more times to smooth out the tops.
- Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until the edges have a kiss of color, they will be tall and puffy and will shrink as they cool.
- Cool completely and chill for at least one hour before attempting to remove from the cups.
Apricot topping
- Put all of the toppings into a small pan, simmer on medium heat till about half of the water has evaporated and the apricots have plumped up. It’s okay to cook it longer, add a bit of water to loosen the final product to the consistency you want before you serve.
To serve
- Run a butter knife around the edges of the cheese cake to help release it and pull out of the cup. If you are leaving some crust behind dip the tray into a hot water bath for a minute to melt the butter and release the cheesecakes. Since the cheese cakes shrink a little as they cool they leave a little well in the center, fill that with your apricot topping and serve with crackers.
