Curried Pumpkin Cheesecake

By Peng Looi, Asiatique Restaurant

Graham Cracker Short Dough:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
8 ounces all-purpose flour
6 ounces graham cracker crumbs, ground fine

Curried Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
1.5 pound cream cheese, cut into small pieces and at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
14 ounces pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon ginger powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon (ground)
½ teaspoon nutmeg (fresh ground)
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

Toasted Almond and Cumin Praline ‘Dust’:
2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water, hot
½ cup almonds, toasted and chopped medium fine
1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and crushed

Black Currant  and Pama Pomegranate ‘Paint’
4 ounces black currant (cassis) puree
½ ounce Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
Cardamom Crème:
1 ½ cp heavy cream
¾ cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cardamom seed, fresh ground
Sarawak Peppercorn Caramel:
½ cup sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1 cinnamon stick, small
2 star anise, whole
2 bay leaves
3 oz lime juice, fresh
3 tablespoon Sarawak peppercorns, coarsely cracked

Method:

Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 16 oven proof ramekins (3.5″x3.5″ size) lightly and set aside. Cream butter, sugar and salt in electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add egg and mix until just combined. Add graham cracker crumbs, and mix until evenly incorporated. Sift and add flour, and mix until doughy. Hand kneed dough as necessary to incorporate any butter that may be visible. Roll dough into a cylinder approximately 3 inches in diameter, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator overnight, or in freezer for 1 hour. Once dough is fully chilled, slice into ¼ inch thick slices, and place in bottom of prepared ramekins put inside a larger baking pan. Bake crusts in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Curried Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:
Preheat oven to 350 F. In electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, begin by mixing cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and mix until incorporated. Add eggs – one at a time – until smooth and no lumps of cream cheese remain. Next, add pumpkin puree, blending until mixture is evenly mixed (the mixture will be a uniform orange color). Add fresh ground nutmeg, and then sift and add ginger powder, cinnamon, and curry powder, and mix for approximately 2 minutes on high, until spices are fully blended in. Next, using a 3 or 4 ounce ladle (depending on your ramekin size) divide cheesecake mixture evenly among the ramekins containing the prebaked shortbread crusts; filling the ramekins within ¼ inch of the top rim. Prepare a water bath – fill the baking pan with hot water to half the height of the ramekins. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden at the edges. Allow cooling slightly, then removing from water bath, drying bottoms of ramekins on a towel, and allow to cool in refrigerator overnight before use.

Cardamom Crème:
Combine ingredients as above, whip to medium-stiff peaks and transfer to piping bag with decorative tip of choice. Reserve, and chill in refrigerator.

Sarawak Peppercorn Caramel:
Heat sugar and lime juice in large heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium high heat. Continue to cook sugar, stirring until sugar begins to render and liquefy. Add cinnamon, bay leaves, and pepper, cooking sugar until a golden amber hue. Remove from heat, and add heavy cream, stirring constantly. Strain through chinois while still hot, and cool in ice bath until room temperature.

Toasted Almond and Cumin Praline ‘Dust’:
Combine sugar and hot water in heavy bottomed sauté pan over high heat. Bring sugar mixture to a boil, continuing to cook until a deep amber color. Remove from heat, and stir in almonds, and cumin seed. Return to heat just long enough to bring it back to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and pour onto a sheet pan lined with a Silpat (or other silicon or a lightly greased heat proof surface), turning pan to spread evenly into a thing sheet. Chill until hardened, then break into large pieces and pulse in food processor until ground to small pieces of praline and ‘dust’. Reserve ‘dust’ in an airtight container (with packets of silica gel drying agent).

Black Currant and Pama Pomegranate ‘Paint’:
Combine black currant (cassis) puree with Pama pomegranate liqueur and strain into small squeeze bottle.

Assembly:
Apply a small amount of black currant ‘paint’ to plate, and brush across one side of plate with 1″ paint brush. Drizzle Sarawak peppercorn caramel on opposite side of plate. Place individual cheese cake on top of the brushstroke of ‘paint’. Using Isi Crèam Profi (or piping bag), make a medium sized rosette of cardamom cream on top of the cheesecake. Finish by applying the praline ‘dust’ to the top of the crème, and on the plate over the caramel.