[Thailand Recipes] Tea Cheesecake with Chocolate Crumb Crust

I used to say that I didn’t think tea and tangy cultured dairy products belonged together. This cheesecake has proven me wrong. This is an easy dessert to make. There’s no baking involved. And it is delicious.

Be sure to use unsweetened Thai tea mix which looks like what you see in the photo below (I recommend Pantai brand which is shown here). Do not confuse unsweetened Thai tea mix with the instant Thai tea mix with added sweetener and powdered whitener. Using the wrong type of Thai tea mix in this recipe will not affect the gelling of the filling, but it will surely change the intended taste of both the filling and the topping.

I tested this recipe as it is written twice with consistently great results. (Incidentally, I also tested it using dairy-free substitutes for cream cheese and sour cream (Tofutti brand), and it turned out fine albeit just a tad runnier. The crust can also be made with melted extra virgin coconut butter.)

I remember this vividly as if it happened last week.

As we went through piles and piles of books for sale at Nancy’s house, I found a charming cookbook so well-used and worn out that the spine was coming apart. I flipped through its stained pages and immediately fell in love with the drawings and handwriting even though, not knowing much English back then, I barely knew what it said. But it didn’t matter. I told Mom I wanted that book. Finding no price sticker on it, Mom took the book to Nancy to ask how much it cost. Instead of naming a price, Nancy responded by shrieking, snatching the book from Mom’s hand. She had no intention of ever parting with that book, Nancy explained; it was put in the sales bin by mistake.

Thai Tea Cheesecake with Chocolate Crumb Crust from The Heart of the Plate: A Tribute to Mollie Katzen
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 10 mins

Author: Adapted from The Heart of the Plate by Mollie Katzen
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8

Ingredients
Crust
10-11 graham crackers (6-7 ounces)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
Filling
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1½ cups strong brewed Thai tea (see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
Topping
⅔ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons strong brewed Thai tea
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Make the crust by placing the graham crackers into a food processor and pulse until you get fine crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl. Stir in the cocoa powder and sugar; pour in the melted butter. Mix well. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan, making sure the thickness of the crust is even throughout and that the crumbs on the sides of the pan are flush with the rim. Set aside.

2. Make the filling by combining the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Stir in the tea and vanilla. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. In about 5 minutes, the mixture should become thick and glossy.

3. Remove the saucepan from heat and whisk in the cream cheese, one piece at a time, making sure the mixture is smooth and completely free of lumps after each addition.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Let it cool to room temperature, about 40 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping by whisking all of the topping ingredients together until smooth. Spoon the topping mixture on top of the chilled pie, spreading it all the way to the edges (I kind of broke this rule, because I wanted the contrast between the dark orange filling and the light orange topping to show in the overhead shot). Cover the pie with a fresh sheet of plastic wrap, being careful not to disturb the topping. Chill the pie for another 2-3 hours (this much time should be sufficient, although I've found that overnight is much better, especially if you plan to make this for company and want each slice to hold its shape well and the filling and topping forming 2 distinctly separate layers).

5. Serve the pie cold.

Notes

For this recipe, steep ½ cup of Thai tea mix in 2½ cups of boiling water for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing out as much liquid as you can from the tea leaves. This produces enough strong tea to use in both the filling and the topping.

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Shesimmers.com. Thanks so much!