Dessert is definitely not the first thing we think of when we think puer. On the contrary this is a tea that sits firmly in the savoury corner and a quick look at the available Tea and Food pairings show that quite clearly.
Dissolving the after-taste of fatty, oily foods and use as a digestive after rich meals is where most puer pairing begins and is actually an age-old Chinese dietary tradition. Accompanying Dim Sum or Thanksgiving dinner is fine but after a while makes puer sound more like a medicine than a beverage. What else does the industry suggest? There is the classic and delicious puer and mushroom combo celebrating the earthy, funky richness they both share, totally delicious but not surprising. Red beets and dark chocolate finish up the bulk of available suggestions with a few folks daring to add a cheese or two…and that seems to be that.
Now let me introduce puer and peanut butter, a combination made in gastronomic heaven that celebrates both the savoury and sweet profile of both ingredients simultaneously. I included one puer and peanut recipe in Hot Tea, a main dish of the Indonesian classic chicken satay with spicy peanut sauce but in the world of desserts is where puer and peanut began for me.
Puer is such a complex tea and the flavour profiles of the original (and expensive) sheng type offerings could fill volumes on their own. The more common and less expensive shou or ‘ripe’ puer made by an accelerated modern process provides a more consistent and easy to use tea in the kitchen.
For this recipe, we want puer’s earthy, deep taste that blends so well with savoury. But more importantly we want the sweet stone-fruit, forest berry and almost creamy floral notes from properly brewed puers that go so well with all nuts– particularly peanuts and peanut butter.
I’ve used the tea in two places and two ways here. First in the crust, where re-dried, steeped leaves are ground into a powder and used as a spicy flavour. Second, fresh shou puer leaves are used in an intense fruity gelee for topping the cheesecake and complementing the creamy, nutty, baked filling below. The apple jelly brings out the stone-fruit and floral notes but doesn’t cover the earthy bottom notes. Sheer heaven and worthy of any celebration.
Puer Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Preheat oven to 325 F / 160 C. Grease and line the bottom of a 10” / 24cm spring-form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the top of the parchment.
Crust
- 1 ½ cups / 200 g graham crackers
- ¼ cup / 50 g salted peanuts,
- 3 tsp / 15 g steeped, dehydrated puer tea leaves
- ¼ cup / 60 g melted butter
Combine cracker crumbs, peanuts and tea in a food processor or blender and pulse to a fine crumb. Add melted butter and stir to blend then press mixture firmly into bottom and 1” / 3cm up the sides of the spring-form pan. Bake 10 min then set aside to cool.
Filling
- 16oz / 454 g cream cheese
- 1 cup / 200 g brown sugar
- ½ cup / 125 ml full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 3 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup / 250 g smooth peanut butter (preferably natural)
In a large bowl combine cream cheese and sugar and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and peanut butter and continue mixing until smooth. Add eggs and yolk all-together while blending at low speed. Do not overbeat at this stage or the cake will crack.
Pour filling into prepared crust and bake for 50-60 min until top is just set. Center will be a little jiggly when pan is moved. If entire cake is still jiggly bake 10 minutes more. Cool at room temperature for 30 min then use a knife to release edge of cake from pan. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight to fully set.
While cake is cooling make Puer gelee.
Gelee
- 1 cup / 250 ml apple jelly
- 1 oz / 30 ml vodka
- 2 tsp / 8 g shou puer tea
- water as needed
In a small covered saucepan, rinse tea leaves in boiling water for 15-20 seconds, drain and add vodka to warm pan, letting the tea soak for 5 minutes. Add apple jelly to vodka and tea and heat slowly on low until jelly is completely melted and leaves are steeping. Add a little water if necessary to ensure leaves are fully covered. Turn off heat and allow to steep 1 hour.
Strain leaves from jelly mix pressing firmly to get all the liquid out. Heat jelly mix until bubbling and slightly thickened. Pour the warm gelee over the cold cheesecake spreading edge to edge. Allow to set for 30 minutes before cutting.
You can also double the amount of gelee and serve the extra on the side.
Nice article