Kiwi Fruit & Cheese Pie, Hazelnut Crust, Shaved Ice

YIELD: 12 servings

Chef's tip: for an elegant presentation, prepare the cheese pie in 4" ring molds with ¼" of crust and 1" of filling. Surround the individual pies with shaved ice.

Crust:

1½ cup graham cracker crumbs
6 Tbsps. brown sugar
¼ tsp. salt ⅛ tsp. ground ginger
¾ cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped into fine pieces
zest of 1 lime
6 Tbps. unsalted butter, melted, plus more for lining mold

Cheese Filling:

224 grams cream cheese, room temperature
112 grams goat cheese, room temperature
½ cup sugar
zest of 1 lime
⅛ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. vanilla powder
½ cup cream, cold
224 grams crème fraiche, room temperature
5 ripe kiwis, peeled, cut into ¼-inch-thick rounds

Shaved Kiwi Ice:

½ cup sugar
6 kiwi juice of
1 lime mint leaves, as needed

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. For crust: In a bowl, toss together all ingredients. Press crust into pie shell, about ¼" thick and up the sides. Brush pie crust lightly with butter. Gently place in oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

3. For Cheese Filling: In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, goat cheese, sugar, lime zest, salt, and vanilla powder until light and fluffy. In the meantime, whip cream until soft peaks appear. Remove bowl from mixer and fold crème fraiche into cream cheese mixture, followed by the whipped cream. Fill pie into the prepared shell till almost the top, leaving about ¼" or so. Refrigerate pie until the top of filling is set, about 40 minutes.

4. Arrange kiwis in concentric circles atop filling, overlapping slightly, and refrigerate until serving. If the pie is to be refrigerated for more than 4 hours, cover with plastic wrap directly on the kiwi.

4. For Shaved Kiwi Ice: Bring sugar with ¼ cup of water to heat until it is melted. Transfer syrup to blender, add kiwi and lime juice, and blend until smooth. Pour mixture into a metal pan and freeze until hard. One hour before serving, scrape the ice with a fork, and freeze again until serving.

5. To Serve: Place tart in the middle of the bowl and surround the sides of the tart with shaved kiwi ice. Garnish with a couple of torn mint leaves on the ice.

Recipe and photo: North American Zespri Kiwifruit

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