Years ago in a cafe in the beautiful city of Tehran, I was blown away by an elegant-looking rose, cardamom, and pistachio cheesecake. Though truly exotic I knew from the beginning that I could write its recipe and make it at home, simply. Unlike all other cheesecakes, I didn't make it with a biscuit base but a tart base and with classic cheesecake recipe with some Iranian ingredients and made it absolutely heavenly and unforgettable.

Ingredients for the tart crust
• 150 g (1 cup and 2 tbsp) plain flour
• 12 g (1 tbsp) sugar
• 1 g (1/4 tsp) salt
• 150 g (5 oz) cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 30 g (2 tbs) heavy or sour cream
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) ground cardamom

Ingredients for cream cheese filling
• 500 g ( 1 lb) cream cheese, room temperature
• 120 g (1/2 cup) sour cream
• 100g(1/2 cup) sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 g (1/2 tbsp) cornstarch
• 15 ml (1 tbs) rose water
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) ground cardamom
• pinch of salt
• 30g (1⁄4 cup) chopped or slivered pistachios

Preheat oven to 150C (300 F)
23 cm (9 inch) non-Stick loose base tart tin with 4 cm (1/5 inch)-long edges

To make the pie crust
Place all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse until a ball is shaped. Be careful not to overwork the dough, just a few pulses.
Rest the dough for 10 minutes.
Dust the surface with some flour and roll the dough out using a rolling pin.
Roll the dough around the rolling pin and place it into the tart tin.
With a knife, trim the edges of the dough to fit the tart tin.
Prick the dough with a fork to let the air out while baking.
Freeze the tart for 30 minutes.
Then bake in the preheated oven for only 10 minutes.
Set the tart aside to cool

To make the cream cheese filling
In a large bowl mix the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, cornstarch, rose water, cardamom, and salt.
Mix until combined.
Add the eggs one at a time until each egg is well incorporated.
Do not overmix the batter.
Add the pistachios and mix well.
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the pre-cooked pie crust.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave it another 40 minutes in the oven.
Remove the ring and let cool.
Let it cool at room temperature.
Refrigerate for 5 hours before serving

Decorate with chopped or slivered pistachios and rose petals if desired.