This tart is a dreamy combination of cardamom, walnuts, figs and cream cheese. With an easy walnut and graham cracker crust and a creamy and delicious cream cheese filling, it’s the perfect dessert for fig season.
I made this tart inspired by my favorite childhood breakfast: my mom’s whole fig preserve, cheese, walnuts and freshly baked Lavash bread!
Figs go very well with salty and tangy cheese, and cardamom and walnut compliment and enhance the flavors even more. It’s a dangerously easy recipe to make and the result is a delicious, flavorful and super aromatic tart. This dessert has a special place in my heart and I really hope you make and enjoy it as much as I did!
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Fig and Cardamom Cream Cheese Tart
Ingredients
Walnut Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs - 110 grams (8-9 sheets of graham crackers)
- 1.5 oz walnuts - 40 grams or about ⅓ cup walnut halves
- 5 tbsp melted unsalted butter - 71 grams
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese - at room temperature (225 grams)
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar - 80 grams
- 2 large eggs - at room temperature
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Topping
- Fresh figs - cut in halves or quarters
- Ground walnut - to sprinkle on top (optional)
- Confectioner's sugar - for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Walnut Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly brush your 9-inch tart pan with some butter and place it on a small baking sheet.
- Grind up graham crackers in a food processor or place them in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- Add walnuts and graham cracker crumbs to the food processor and pulse until walnut pieces are all ground. We want to process walnuts with graham cracker crumbs so that they don't release their natural oil as much. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl. Add in brown sugar and ground cardamom, mix. Add in melted butter and mix with a fork or a spatula until combined. Transfer the mixture into the prepared tart pan and evenly distribute. Use a measuring cup or your hands and press down the crust mixture evenly at the bottom and sides. Make sure it's even and tight. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
Cream Cheese Filling
- To avoid lumps in the filling batter, make sure eggs and cream cheese are at the room temperature. Beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add sugar, lemon zest and cardamom and beat 1 more minute until it's incorporated and smooth. Add in eggs 1 at a time and mix on low speed until just combined. Add in cream and vanilla extract, mix until smooth. Be careful not to over mix after adding eggs and cream. We're not looking for volume in the filling batter and want them to be just combined.
- Pour the filling into the crust and bake about 25-30 minutes until the filling is just set and maybe a little wobbly in the middle. Let it cool down on the wire rack completely (about 30 minutes), then refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
- To serve, top the filling with lots of fresh figs. You can also sprinkle some ground walnut on top and dust it with powdered sugar. To cut, make sure you use a large and sharp knife and clean your knife after each cut to have sharp and clean edges.
