This dessert was what I made for Mother’s Day with my mother specifically in mind. My mom LOVES fruit-based desserts, despises carbs, and likes cheesecakes, so that actually made it super straightforward for what I was going to make for her. Initially, I was going to use just passionfruit, since it is so naturally tart, but then I stumbled upon these ruby kiwis, and was immediately drawn to them. A ruby kiwi is a pink-colored kiwi that is a lot sweeter than the green and yellow varieties. I first was introduced to them while I was traveling in Taiwan during April, and when I saw them at my local Japanese supermarket, I just had to use them! My mom was always the one introducing me to all kinds of fun or unique fruits and vegetables growing up, so I figured now would be the perfect time to do the same, and introduce to her the ruby kiwi! And fortunately, since the kiwis are slightly sweet, they contrast the tartness of the passionfruit quite well here! Overall, this dessert was a super quite one to conceptualize, to the point where I almost felt it was an afterthought, but the composition of a rare cheesecake with a crumble for texture and two fruits of contrasting flavors wound up being a huge hit with my family, with my parents even calling this a 2-star Michelin dessert!

For the components, we have a soy bean milk rare cheesecake, a kinako-almond crumble, passionfruit jam, and glazed ruby kiwis. A rare cheesecake is another way of saying a no-bake cheesecake, typically set with gelatin or tofu. I went with gelatin in this case, as well as white chocolate, which resulting in an almost panna cotta-like consistency! The soy milk adds a nutty sweetness, while the white chocolate gives the cheesecakes a little more stability, fat, and body in lieu of using heavy cream or sour cream. I also used quenelle molds, because I wanted the cheesecakes to have a little more of a modern elegance to them. The cheesecakes themselves require a decent chunk of time to firm up, so I would recommend making them first out of any of the components. For the crumble, it comes together quite quickly, since it is a brown butter-kinako(toasted soy bean)-almond based dough. You literally just need to mix it then bake it! For the passionfruit jam, it is important that you fully dissolve the cornstarch into the passionfruit pulp prior to heating it, as this jam cannot be strained(we’re keeping the seeds for another pleasant crunchy texture), so the last thing you want are lumps of raw cornstarch mixed in there. And lastly, the kiwis are poached in a yuzu simple syrup, just to kill the enzyme in them that curdles dairy. While the kiwis aren’t being directly mixed with the cheesecake, I just did not want to take any chances there, and also by cooking them in the syrup, that also keeps the fruit from drying out as it sits on the plate. All in all, this is a fairly simple dessert to make with minimal risk of messing anything up, so I loved how easy it was for it all to come together!

For the cheesecake:
4oz soy bean milk
2oz white chocolate
1 1/2 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
4oz cream cheese
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste

In a pot, melt the white chocolate, gelatin, and salt into the soy bean milk. Whisk the milk into the cream cheese with the vanilla bean paste to form your cheesecake mixture. Pour the cheesecake into silicone quenelle molds and freeze solid, about 2 hours. Unmold the cheesecakes 1 hour prior to serving.

For the kinako-almond crunch:
1/4 cup kinako powder
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp brown butter
a pinch of salt
3 tbsp flaked almonds

Mix all of your ingredients together in a bowl to form your crunch dough. Spread the dough on a lined sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Crumble the dough into smaller pieces.

For the passionfruit jam:
3 passionfruit
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt

Stir everything in a pot on medium-heat until the liquid reduces by half. Allow the jam to cool down before using to plate.

For the yuzu-glazed kiwis:
1 tbsp yuzu juice
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp water
a pinch of salt
2 ruby kiwis

In a pan, heat up the yuzu juice, sugar, water, and salt until everything is dissolved together. Peel and dice the kiwis, and toss in the still-warm syrup.

To finish:
Viola flowers