Honey, Goat Cheese, and Pistachio Tart
Each bite of this exquisite tart pairs a crisp pistachio tart shell with an impossibly light goat cheese and honey mousse. A sprinkle of crushed pistachios and ruby pomegranate arils add even more flavor and give the tart a holiday vibe. Luckily, this honey, goat cheese, and pistachio tart is pretty dang easy to make.
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Crafting a Recipe
I’d like to make more tarts, but since I haven’t made a ton, I find it more difficult to create recipes out of thin air. Not too long ago, I posted a poll on the Bakes & Blunders Facebook page asking my followers to choose the flavor combo for my next tart recipe. This honey, goat cheese, and pistachio tart won by a landslide!
To craft this recipe, I pulled inspiration from various tarts I’ve made before. The crust comes from my chocolate earl grey tart and the mousse is from my strawberry citrus tart. With a few tweaks, each element became something fresh and new!
Pistachio Tart Shell
The recipe I used as my starting point was gluten free and chocolate. I used all purpose flour and swapped in more flour for the cocoa powder. Instead of almond flour, I used ground pistachios. And lastly, I swapped out a bit of sugar for honey. With all these changes, I had my fingers crossed that it would work.
And it did! Understandably, the crust did slide down a tiny bit as it baked. But it didn’t shrink away from the pan at all. It smelled like a pistachio cookie and I was tempted to dig in before I even made the filling.
I used salted, roasted pistachios in this tart shell. It added a nice salty flavor that paired well with the goat cheese mousse filling. However, you could use unsalted or even raw pistachios instead. That’s completely up to you and you taste buds.
Next Time…
The mixture was supposed to be clumpy, like wet sand that sticks together when you press it. This was not the case, thanks to the honey. It formed a sticky mass, but I was able to press it into the pan without too much trouble.
Next time I make this honey, goat cheese, and pistachio tart I think I will mix the butter into the dry ingredients for a bit before adding the honey. This should allow the butter to incorporate more thoroughly before the tart dough turns into a sticky ball.
Goat Cheese Mousse
This goat cheese and honey mousse is impossibly light and delicious! The combination of goat cheese and cream cheese creates a delicious tang while honey adds a unique touch of sweetness to each bite.
Goat cheese doesn’t melt very well, so there were a few small lumps in my cheese mixture. While I could have strained them out before folding in the whipped cream, I decided not to do so. It made no impact on the flavor or texture, but you could always strain it if you want an absolute perfect finish.
Related Reading: Raspberry & Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies
Next Time…
This creamy, light mousse has a light goat cheese flavor. Next time, I may experiment with 4 oz of cream cheese and 4 oz of goat cheese to develop an even tangier flavor. If you prefer milder flavors, I wouldn’t suggest this experiment.
And to minimize or prevent lumps, I would add the honey syrup in slowly. Just like when you are making a roux for soups and sauces, adding the liquid in all at once makes it almost impossible to get rid of lumps.
Garnet Garnish
Given the flavors of the honey, pistachio, and goat cheese tart, I knew I’d want to garnish the dessert with some crushed pistachios. That on its own would not be very exciting though. At first I considered a drizzle of honey, but that just sounded messy and difficult to make pretty.
Then I remembered the pomegranate in my fridge! Those garnet colored arils are stunningly beautiful, plus they are so yummy. After I added them to the tart, my husband said it looked like a wreath. This beauty came out better than I ever envisioned!
Not only does the pomegranate add a much needed pop of color, they also add a pop of flavor too. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but it will take the tart over the top. If you’ve never cut open a pomegranate before, I like this prep tutorial. My son actually loves helping (um, eating) when we break into one of these red orbs.
Honey, Goat Cheese, and Pistacho Tart Video Tutorial
I promise, this honey, goat cheese, and pistachio tart is very simple to make. But there may be some unfamiliar steps or elements in the recipe. Luckily, I made a step by step recipe tutorial for all you visual learners!
The mousse will need several hours to set, and you can even leave it overnight. However, that filling is quite wet. The bottom crust will begin to soften the longer it sits. I do not suggest making this any longer than 24 hours in advance. If you do, it’ll still be delicious, but the texture will be a bit limp.
Enjoy!
I really hope you get to make this honey, goat cheese, and pistachio tart soon! My besties came over to serve as taste testers and they agreed it was one of my top desserts (and they’ve had quite a few from me).
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Honey, Goat Cheese, and Pistachio Tart
Ingredients
Pistachio Tart Shell
- 3 oz all purpose flour
- 2 oz finely ground pistachios
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1.5 oz sugar
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 2.5 oz unsalted butter cold and diced
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
Goat Cheese Mousse
- 3 oz sugar
- 2 Tbsps honey
- 1.5 oz water
- 6 oz cream cheese
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 8 fl oz heavy whipping cream cold
- Toppings: chopped pistachios, pomegranate arils
Instructions
Pistachio Tart Shell
- Sift the flour, ground pistachios, cornstarch, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low until combined.
- Add the cold, cubed butter, honey, and vanilla. Mix on medium- low until the mixture begins to clump, about 3 minutes.
- Press the mixture into a 9 inch round tart pan. Focus on building up the sides of the crust first. Pack the crust in firmly. Place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F while the tart chills.
- Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 18- 20 minutes. Cool completely before making the filling.
Goat Cheese Mousse
- Add the sugar, honey, and water to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and heat for one minute. Set aside to cool for 5- 10 minutes.
- Cube the cream cheese and goat cheese and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on half power for two or three 30 second bursts, stirring well between each burst. The cheese mixture should be slightly warm, creamy, and well combined.
- Stir the sugar syrup into the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth. Use your spatula to flatten and smooth out any lumps. The mixture will be warm, but should not be hot. Set the bowl aside.
- In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until you have soft- medium peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture.
- Fill your cool pastry shell to the top with the mousse. There may be extra mousse. Place the tart into the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.
- Before serving, top with crushed pistachios and pomegranate arils.
My Favorite Products For This Recipe
Colleen
Hi there! I’m Colleen, a novice baker with a passion for learning and improving my bakes… and blunders. On Bakes and Blunders, you can find all sorts of tasty recipes that range in difficulty, but most importantly, I’ll try to explain the reason behind important steps. If you know why a recipe works, you can tweak and adapt it to suit your unique tastes, and you’ll be able to reliably produce some very delicious treats. If you love baking and want to expand and grow your skills, or if you are a casual baker and just need some pointers, my blog is right up your alley! Join me on my baking journey and we’ll learn how to make more impressive recipes together.
2 Comments
Suzann C Boylan
My husband can’t eat pistachios, can you recommend another nut to use? Many thanks.
Colleen
This tart shell is based on another recipe – https://www.bakesandblunders.com/chocolate-earl-grey-tart-and-its-gluten-free/. That chocolate tart shell uses almond flour instead, so you should be fine with that. Heck, I’m sure using hazelnut flour would work just fine too. I’d love to hear what swap you make and how it tastes!