Strawberry Cheesecake Heart Pie

To make the crust, combine the butter, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse just until it resembles coarse crumbs. Slowly pour in the ice water and pulse until a dough ball forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Cut the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Roll out the other half on a well floured surface until you have about a 10″ round. Place the dough round into a 9″ pie dish and crimp the edges slightly.

To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and salt until thoroughly combined. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly but leave the oven on.

Place spoonfuls of the jam on top of the semi-set custard and swirl around slightly with a butter knife.

Roll out the second half of the dough and cut out heart shapes. I used a 3″ heart cookie cutter for the outer row and a 2″ heart cutter towards the center but you can make them all the same size. Lay the hearts on top of the cheesecake in an overlapping pattern.

Return to the oven for an additional 30-40 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown.