LILIKOI CHEESECAKE

Recipe by Patrick Heymann, Executive Chef at Kohanaiki, Kona, Hawaii, USA.
Image by Diana DeLucia.

subscribe

Yield: Makes 18, 3" round cheesecakes

Chef Note:  Lilikoi is the Hawaiian term for Passion Fruit.

Ingredients

Cheesecake

• 3 lbs. Cream Cheese 
• 1 lb. 4 oz. Sugar
• 2 Tbs. Cornstarch
• 1.2 oz. Sour Cream
• 6 Whole Eggs
• 8 oz. Passion Fruit Puree 

Macnut Butter Crust

• 9 oz. Butter
• 10 oz. All-Purpose Flour
• 5 oz. Brown Sugar
• 5 oz. Macadamia Nuts (chopped)

Lilikoi Curd

• 5 oz. Sugar
• 4 oz. Butter
• 3  oz. Lilikoi puree
• 2 Whole Eggs
• 4 Egg Yolks

Preparation

Cheesecake

In a bowl, with a blender mix the cream cheese with the sugar and cornstarch. 

Start the mixer on #1 and slowly work up to #2, add the sour cream, eggs and then the passion fruit puree.

Place into your preferred molds or trays, place into the freezer until firm. 


Macnut Butter Crust

Chop up the butter and put into the freezer. 

Add the flour and brown sugar into a mixer and pulse. 

Remove the butter from the freezer and add butter and Macadamia nuts until fully mixed.
​

Lilikoi Curd

In a pot, mix the sugar, butter and Lilikoi puree in a pot and bring to a boil.

Wisk the eggs together in a bowl.

Add the warm mixture slowly to the eggs then pour the incorporated mix back into the pot and slowly cook to a mayonnaise-like consistency and strain into a chilled bowl.

Evenly divide the Lilikoi curd among the tops of the unbaked cheesecakes and swirl into the mixture.

Bake cheesecakes with the Macnut bottom at 300 ºF for approximately 48 minutes.


Assembly

Once the cheesecake is thoroughly chilled, remove from mold and place in center of a small dessert plate.

Garnish with a small dollop of fresh whipped cream and raspberry sauce then drizzle with some sliced fresh fruits. 


Wine Match

Dolce Late Harvest Wine.

Kohanaiki, Kona, Hawaii, USA. Image courtesy Kohanaiki.