Friday, October 15, 2010

Pumpkin Cheesecake


I know I know, this photo (and piece of cheesecake) is a total mess! But I really wanted to share this recipe for pumpkin cheesecake with you, and due to the business of Thanksgiving, I didn't get around to taking a nicer photo of it. But I thought it would be better to have something to show you guys rather than nothing, right? Because this cheesecake is so good.


I'm hoping this Abby photo can make up for the cheesecake one!


The first time I made it was a few Thanksgivings ago. Usually we have pumpkin pie with whipped cream but I wanted to try something different. I warned my brother beforehand because I knew he'd be disappointed if the dessert was something other than pumpkin pie, and now I've got him hooked on this cheesecake. I like to serve it with whipped cream, and if you're feeling fancy you can sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top. I've also eaten it with ice cream which of course is good too. I would recommend using a 10" springform pan (as you're supposed to) and not being like me and using a 9" springform pan that just isn't big enough. It didn't overflow but it rose up a lot, and resulted in a lot of cracking.


EDIT! October 10, 2011 - I made this cheesecake again for Thanksgiving and this time got a better photo, and better results actually. I halved the filling recipe (but not the crust), and used my four 4" cheesecake pans. I used a water bath and baked them for about 50-55 minutes. They didn't crack and were the most perfect texture. Creamy and soft, and the edges weren't rubbery or overcooked as seems to happen with other cheesecakes I've made.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Brown-Sugar Apple Cheesecake
Rich Chocolate Cheesecake
Lemon Cheesecake
Cheesecake Pops

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Adapted from The Best of The Best and More

Ginger Snap Crust
1 cup crushed gingersnaps
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar

Filling
4 8-oz (250 g) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
14 oz (398 mL) can pumpkin
2 tbsp whipping cream (original recipe calls for rum)

1 cup whipping cream, whipped
Ground cinnamon, optional

Crust: Combine ingredients. Lightly grease a 10" springform pan and line bottom with crumb mixture. Pat firm and chill.

Filling: Preheat oven to 325F. Beat softened cream cheese till fluffy. Slowly beat in sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour, spices, pumpkin and 2 tbsp whipping cream. Pour batter over crust. Bake for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, or until filling is set. Cool for an hour. Refrigerate several hours. Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon (optional).

24 comments:

Deborah said...

I made a pumpkin cheesecake a few years ago and it was a hit. I need to try one again, and this one sounds perfect!

Joanne said...

You know the way to my heart. (Along the pumpkin-infused trail). This sounds amazing.

Anonymous said...

Even if it's messy, the picture still looks good to me! I was never a big cheesecake person, but I have always been a sucker for anything with pumpkin. I love the picture of your kitty, she's cute!

Anonymous said...

From my experience, the messier the cheesecake is, the yummier it tastes. Your cheesecake looks like a winner! Thanks for dropping by and commenting on my hedgehogs earlier!

kickpleat said...

Ha, I kinda like the mangled photos! We can't all be getting our photograph acts together the whole time. Thanks for keeping it real and it looks great.

Jacy said...

I love pumpkin and I love cheesecake... I'm pretty sure nothing but goodness can come from combining them! The picture is great, too!

Johanna GGG said...

That looks so good - I am sure I would prefer it to pumpkin pie - I don't need perfect glossy photos to see how good food looks but it is nice to see Abby looking her cute self

Deliciously Suite said...

I'm on a pumpkin kick right now so I HAVE to try this! Don't worry about the pic, that just proves how good it was!

Cristina said...

Instead of canned pumpkin can I use real, cooked pumpkin? I went pumpkin picking and got a little carried away

Hannah said...

I actually really like the photo- It proves that the cheesecake was so delicious, it was positively irresistible! That makes the recipe all the more enticing. ;)

Jennifer said...

One of my fav kinds of cheesecake!!! I'm loving the gingersnap crust!

eatme_delicious said...

Cristina: You can, but I'm not sure how you'd have to modify it. I think cooked pumpkin is a lot more watery, so you'd have to drain it first?

Ricki said...

Oh, I remember pumpkin cheesecake! Who cares about the picture. . . just give me a slice of that yumminess!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Mm I love pumpkin cheesecake. I'm sure you only got this photo because it was so delicious it was mostly eaten up by the time you remembered to photograph it ;p.

Unknown said...

I like the realism in the photo. As if it's just waiting for me to dive into it :D

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

Thanks for sharing. That looks delicious. I love anything with pumpkin.

Anonymous said...

ooh pumpkin cheesecake! reminds me of pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie. (drool)

Awe always happy to see Abby

kimberleyblue said...

I love seeing all these pumpkin recipes popping out, and a cheesecake seems like the ideal way to use it. Especially with a gingerbread crust.

Abby's looking pretty cute, as always!

Erin said...

I fully support the inclusion of Abby into all blog posts :)

Anonymous said...

I made the cheesecake using home made pumpkin puree and the crust from the Buttermilk Pie recipe. The result was just great, everybody loved the cheesecake!

:)


caroline

eatme_delicious said...

caroline: Yaey so happy everybody liked it. Great idea to use the crust from the buttermilk pie bars!

Jaime said...

no cheesecake photo required b/c that abby pic is so cute! :) hope you're doing well, i've kind of dropped off the commenting blogosphere due to "life" being so busy....looks like you're still whipping up some great food :)

Victoria's Exposures - Photography by Victoria said...

I made this cheese cake on Tuesday and it's half way gone already! We couldn't wait for it to cool the whole way so we tried a bit of it while it was still a little bit warm. It's fantastic! I made it with a cinnamon graham cracker crust instead of the ginger snaps and didn't put the cinnamon in the crust but it still tastes great! Thanks for the recipe!

eatme_delicious said...

Victoria: So glad you guys liked it so much. Great idea to use a cinnamon graham cracker crust.