Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love pumpkin pie. I love cheesecake. I really love this pumpkin cheesecake. And with Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner the timing on this one is perfect! And guess what else. I just remembered that last year about this time I posted a recipe for Individual Pumpkin Cheesecakes.

Well, here is a recipe for a big cheesecake. I found the recipe on-line but failed to write the website down. The writer said it was from Bon Apetit, but when I looked on the Bon Apetit website I couldn't find it. That doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't from them but they may not have put it on line or something.

ANYWAY, on to the recipe!

The ingredients are: 1 1/2 C ground gingersnap cookies; 1 1/2 C toasted pecans (about 6 oz.); 1/4 C brown sugar; 1/4 C melted butter; 4 8 oz pkgs cream cheese at room temperature; 1 2/3 C sugar; 1 1/2 C canned pumpkin; 9 T whipping cream; 1 t ground cinnamon; 1 t ground allspice; 4 large eggs; 1 T caramel sauce; 1 C sour cream.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

FOR THE CRUST: It's not really hard to toast your nuts. (Insert funny joke here.) Simply put them in a pan over medium high heat and constantly stir til toasted to your liking. Or if you want to get fancy you can practice flipping the nuts in the pan.

After the nuts are toasted grind them along with the gingersnap cookies, brown sugar, and melted butter.

Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan. Remember the trick to help press the mix more solid and make a better corner? Use a flat bottomed glass or measuring cup. It really helps.

Now here's where the recipe (I think) is missing a step. It didn't say anything about cooking the crust. I've always baked my cheesecake crusts first so I cooked the crust for five minutes. In retrospect I think it probably could have gone another five minutes.

FOR THE FILLING: Beat the cream cheese and sugar until light. Transfer 3/4 C of the mix to a small bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate until tomorrow.

To the rest of the cream cheese mixture add the pumpkin, 4 T cream, and spices. Mix. Add the eggs, one at a time, mix well.

Pour filling into the crust. Bake until cheesecake puffs, the top browns, and the center moves only slightly when the pan is shaken--about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Transfer to a rack and cool for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen. Cool the cake completely, cover with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator over night.

The next day bring the remaining 3/4 C cream cheese mixture to room temperature. Add 5 T whipping cream and mix well. Press down on the cheesecake to even thickness. Pour over the cheesecake and spread evenly over the top.

Spoon caramel sauce in lines over the cheesecake. Swirl with knife tip into mixture. (I'm pretty sure I used more than 1 T of the caramel sauce.)

Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with plastic and refrigerate.

The directions advised to "spoon sour cream into pastry bag with star tip, decorate border and serve". I ended up not using the sour cream and I can't say I missed it at all.

I kind of messed up on the lines, but you get the idea. And anyway, it was delicious!

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Bon Apetit)

1 1/2 C ground gingersnap cookies

1 1/2 C toasted pecans (6 oz.)

1/4 C brown sugar

1/4 C melted butter

4 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

1 2/3 C sugar

1 1/2 C canned pumpkin

9 T whipping cream

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground allspice

4 large eggs

1 T caramel sauce

1 C sour cream

CRUST: Preheat oven to 350°. Grind cookies, pecans, brown sugar. Add melted butter, blend to combine. Press into bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan w/2 3/4" sides. Bake 5 minutes.

FILLING: Beat cream cheese and sugar until light. Transfer 3/4 C mix to small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Add pumpkin, 4 T whipping cream, cinnamon, allspice and mix well. Add eggs one at a time. Mix well.

Pour filling into crust, bake until cake puffs, top browns, and center moves only slightly when pan is shaken--about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Transfer to rack and cool 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen. Cool, cover tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate over night.

The next day bring the remaining 3/4 C cream cheese mixture to room temperature. Add 5 T whipping cream and mix well. Press down on cheesecake to even thickness. Pour cream cheese/whipping cream mixture over cake and spread evenly. Spoon caramel sauce in lines over cheesecake. Swirl with knife tip into mixture.

Can be prepared one day ahead. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Release pan sides from cheesecake. Spoon sour cream into pastry bag with star tip, decorate border and serve.