Lime and Pistachio Praline Cheesecake by domesticdiva

By DOMESTICDIVA

The dessert's creaminess is nicely balanced by the crunch of praline that graces the top. In addition to being used as a garnish, the praline is ground into a powder and added to the crust for more pistachio flavor.

Ingredients

• Pistachio Praline:
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
• 2/4 cup pistachios*
• Crust:
• 1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled,cut up
• Filling:
• 4 (8oz) pkgs of cream cheese, softened
• 1-1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp. finely grated lime peel

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly oil baking sheet. Place 3/4 cup
sugar, water and corn syrup in medium saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; boil until syrup begins to turn rich golden brown, brushing the sides of pan occasionally
with water but not stirring. Remove from heat; stir in pistachios. Immediately spread onto baking sheet; cool completely until hard. Break prailne into pieces; coarsely crush with meat mallet. Reserve 1/2 cup crushed praline for garnish. Pulse remaining praline in food processor until finely ground. Reserve 1/3 cup of the ground praline for crust and 1/2 cup for filling.

Wrap bottom and sides of 9" springform
pan with wide heavy-duty foil. Spray
bottom of pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place 1-1/4 cups flour, 1 tbsp sugar and 1/3 cup ground pistachio praline in large bowl or food processor; stir together or pulse to blend. Add butter; beat at low speed or pulse in food processer until small pea-sized crumbs form. Press mixture evenly into bottom and 1" up the sides of the pan. Bake 20 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown; cool on wire rack.

In another large bowl, beat cream cheese and 1-1/3 cups sugarat low speed until smooth. Beat in 2 tbsp. flour. Beat in 2 eggs just until combined; repeat with remaning 2 eggs.
Scrape down the sides of bowl. Beat in the cream, vanilla and almond extract
just until blended.

Reserve 2 cups of batter in medium bowl; stir in 1/2 cup ground pistachio
praline.

Stir lime juice and lime peel into batter into large bowl until completely blended; pour into crust. Place pan in large shallow roasting or broiler pan. Fill with enough hot tap water to come halfway up the sides of springform pan.

Bake 40 minutes. carefully slide out oven rack several inches. Pour reserved praline batter evenly over cheesecake.
Bake 20 minutes or until the edges are puffed and top is dry to the touch.
Center should move slightly when pan is tapped but should not ripple as if liquid. Remove from water bath; remove foil. Place on wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup crushed praline just before serving. Store in refrigerator.

TIP* If a vailable, use raw pistachios because they have a bright-green color.
If you can't find them, use roasted, salted pistachios.