Light and Creamy Tamarillo Cheesecake

This baked tamarillo cheesecake is moist, light and creamy. The tamarillo topping lends a tartness to the cheesecake as well as a deep purple colour.

Late autumn and winter is tamarillo time and the search for tamarillo recipes begins! If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on some, from the store or your own tree, here is a great tamarillo dessert recipe to use them in!

This is a classic baked cheesecake, featuring tamarillo in the batter as well as in the tangy cheesecake topping.

What is a Tamarillo? (aka tree tomatoes)

Tamarillos are also known as tree tomatoes, and just like tomatoes, they are in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. They are a great source of vitamin C, A and E and bring beautiful colour to dishes. They’re great to use in tamarillo dessert recipes. They have a fresh and zesty flavour which is enhanced with the addition of lemon in this cheesecake.

Tamarillos are naturally high in pectin which makes them a great fruit with which to make jams and jellies.

How do you eat a tamarillo?

Tamarillos can be eaten fresh, either peeled or use a spoon to scoop out the tangy middle.

Can you eat tamarillo skin? The skin of a tamarillo is quite tough and bitter so this part is generally not eaten.

Cheesecake ingredients

This recipe uses classic cheesecake ingredients. The amounts are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Cream Cheese. It’s best to use block cream cheese for this recipe. Some spreadable cream cheese is made using a different process than block cream cheese and it will not give as nice a texture to the cheesecake.
• Yoghurt or Sour Cream – You can use either full-fat greek yoghurt or sour cream.
• Eggs.
• Vanilla & Lemon Zest – These are classic cheesecake flavours.
• Sugar – To add the sweetness.
• Flour – Just a tiny amount to give some extra stability.
• Tamarillos – A few in the batter but the majority are in the topping.
• Plain vanilla biscuits (or graham crackers) & Butter – The biscuits and butter form the cheesecake crust.

Tamarillo topping

The tamarillo jelly topping brings a beautiful colour to the cheesecake as well as a slightly tangy flavour. The ingredients in the topping are very simple – fruit, sugar, acid and a little thickener. They are:

• Tamarillos
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Corn Starch

Important Notes

There are two things to be aware of when making a cheesecake. Once you know them, you’re set for success!

1. When mixing the cheesecake batter, it is important that all the ingredients are at room temperature.
2. Avoid over mixing the batter at any point as this brings excess air into the batter and can cause cracks in the cheesecake.

The base

Preheat the oven and begin the cheesecake base. Line a round 20cm/8″ springform cake tin with baking paper. Break up biscuits a bit and place them in a food processor. Blend them until they become fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter and mix until it becomes a clumpy mixture.

Tip the mixture into the cake tin and use a back of a spoon to spread it out. Use a smooth glass or a measuring cup to smooth the crumbs along the base and up the sides of the tin, about 3/4 of the way up.

The filling

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a handheld beater, beat the room temperature cream cheese until smooth. Add in the sugar and the flour and beat until mixed in. Add in the yoghurt (or sour cream), the vanilla and the lemon zest and beat until just combined.

Lastly add eggs in one at a time, beating for only a few seconds in between each addition. Beat the last egg in until the mixture is just smooth, then stop beating. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and drop pieces of chopped tamarillo on top.

Baking

This is a baked cheesecake without a water bath. Water baths are used to ensure even baking and to minimise cheesecake cracks but I find a low oven temperature and not over mixing the ingredients can mitigate these problems without the hassle of a water bath. Even if your cheesecake does crack, the tamarillo topping covers them nicely.

Bake the cheesecake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes until the top is slightly puffed and only very lightly browned. There should be a little jiggle to the cheesecake if the pan is gently shaken.

Let the cheesecake cool right down for about an hour in the oven with the door open a crack. The middle of the cheesecake will sink slightly as it cools. When the cheesecake has nearly finished cooling, begin the topping.

Tamarillo jelly

To make the tamarillo jelly topping, in a saucepan over low-medium heat, combine the chopped tamarillo, lemon juice and sugar. Cook the tamarillo for around 4-5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and they are softening. In a bowl, mix the water and corn starch to create a slurry. Add this mixture to the tamarillos and bring it to a boil. Keep whisking as the mixture bubbles and thickens. Once thick, remove it from the heat.

Scoop the mixture over the cheesecake and use an offset spatula or knife to spread it out carefully.

chilling

Refrigerate the cheesecake in the pan for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Before serving, remove the cold cheesecake from the pan by gently running a knife along the edges and removing the springform ring and sliding the cheesecake off the baking paper at the bottom.

Serving

When slicing the cheesecake, use a large and sharp knife and clean it in between each cut to ensure smooth slices. The cheesecake is best made a day in advance so there is enough time to chill it. Once baked it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

The cheesecake can also be frozen for up to three months.

More dessert ideas

Looking for another creamy dessert? Try this creamy lemon mousse tart.

• Spiced Pumpkin Cake
• Plum Crumble Cake

 

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