Roasted Pepper Peach Cheesecake

CRUST

1½ cup cookies, ground up 4 tablespoons unsalted melted butter

FILLING

1 cup heavy cream Generous pinch saffron

8 ounces habanada peppers (14 to

15 peppers)

1½ pounds ripe but firm peaches 1 pound (24 ounces) cream cheese,

softened

¾ cup sugar

Zest from 2 oranges

4 large eggs

½ teaspoon sea salt

Basil sprigs, for garnish

Red chile powder, for garnish

(optional)

Instructions: A few hours or a day before the cheesecake is made, combine the heavy cream with saffron and refrigerate. This helps the flavor of saffron infuse into the cream.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grind the cookies in a food processor or by placing them between a folded kitchen towel and running a rolling pin over it several times until the cookies have completely crumbled. Combine the ground-up cookies with melted butter and press into the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan or a removable bottom pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes — the crust will seem soft but will harden as it cools. Cover the bottom of the pan tightly with foil, making sure it comes up 2 to 3 inches. Place this pan inside a larger pan just as deep or deeper, in which hot water can be added to create a water bath.

Over a hot flame or in the oven on broil, roast the peppers until they are charred and scorched on all sides. Let them cool, then discard the charred skin off them. Leaving 5 to 6 peaches for garnish, cut the remaining ones in half, discard the pits and place them on a hot grill for a minute or two or in the oven close to a broiler. This is not to cook them but to get them to infuse with roasted flavor. Set aside 2 to 3 roasted habanada peppers along with 5 to 6 peaches for garnishing the next day.

In a blender, combine the whole peeled peppers with seeds (after discarding the stems), peaches and saffron cream; purée until completely smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator. Separately, in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle, combine the cream cheese and sugar and mix for 4 to 5 minutes and until the cheese appears airier. Add the orange zest and eggs one at a time and continue mixing.

Add the pepper saffron cream into the cream cheese mix and mix just until combined. Pour the entire mixture into the cooled cheesecake pan. Pour hot water in the larger outside pan halfway up the cheesecake pan so a hot water bath is created around. Carefully place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 degrees and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. The surface of the cheesecake will appear set and may have golden-brown bubbles. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit in the hot oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cheesecake sit in the water bath until cool to the touch. Refrigerate the cheesecake for a minimum of 8 to 10 hours, preferably overnight.

Decorate the top of the cheesecake with sliced peaches with small pieces of roasted habanada peppers and basil leaves tucked in between. Sprinkle with salt and red chile powder, if desired. When slicing, use a knife soaked in hot water and wiped in between slices.

Notes & variations

• Instead of peaches, use nectarines or mangoes.

• Every oven produces different results, so stay alert to the visual cues of the cheesecake when estimating a finish time. The cheesecake will jiggle but appear set.

• Instead of cookies, use crushed graham crackers.

Makes 8 slices