Jereme's Kitchen

Sure it's cracked, but it still tastes good!

Here’s that pumpkin cheesecake that I was talking about in my Lavender Pepita Croquant post.  It’s nothing all that fancy, but still it’s pretty much a classic dessert for this time of year.  If you’re looking for an alternative to a pumpkin pie, this could be it!  I tried to make this a marbled cheesecake, but I made too much of the chocolate batter and it just ended up like a chocolate layer on the top.  Which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, just not the effect I wanted.  It didn’t really matter since I was topping this with a nice whipped topping.  This will make a 10-in cake.  Here’s what you need.

For the crust:

• 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 3/4 c. ginger snaps
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter, melted, plus more for the pan

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the bottom and sides of your springform up about 1 inch.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix.  Pour the melted butter over the top.  Mix well to combine.

3.  Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and up the sides about 1 inch.  Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes.

For the filling:

• 4 8-oz. packages cream cheese
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. canned pumpkin puree (or fresh if you’ve got it!)
• 1 T. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 2 t. vanilla
• 1/2 t. salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c. flour

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In the bowl of a stand mixer and on low-speed, cream together the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth.  Add the pumpkin, spices, vanilla, and salt.  Mix well, being sure to scrape down the sides.

You can't even see the cracks anymore!

2.  Add the eggs one at a time, again scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition.  Sift to flour over the top and mix until just combined.

3.  Pour the filling into the prepared crust and, smooth the top.  Bake in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Allow to cool before wrapping in plastic while still in the pan.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

4.  Cover the top with some fresh whipped cream or whipped topping.  Sprinkle the top with some of the Pepita Croquant.  And it’s ready to serve!

Notes — I mistakenly used a 9-in springform for this and it should have been a 10-in.  So I had to keep the cake in the oven longer than it should have, so some stuff was a little bit “crispier” than it should have been.  Just a reminder to use proper equipment!. . . If you just have a 9-in pan, just use 3 packages of cream cheese, omit one egg and 1/4 c. sugar. . . You’ll notice that there is some cracking on the cheesecake.  If this happens to you, an easy fix is to just cover it with something like some whipped topping (which I had leftover from the pumpkin trifle from a little bit ago). . . Crust ingredients can vary, specifically the butter.  You need to have enough moisture so that the dough can crumbs can hold together.  Take a handful of the crust mixture in your hand and squeeze.  If it holds together, it’s good; if it falls apart, you’ll need more butter.