Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Let Them Eat (Cheese) Cake

Good day, dear Kitschies!  I hope this day has been good for you so far.  It's been business as usual here at work, which is a good thing.  I don't mind the routine - it keeps my mind occupied from all the things I have yet to do. 

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite pumpkin recipes from you.  But I can't take full credit for it.  A couple years ago, my bestie's hubs made this for Thanksgiving and I've been hooked ever since.  He got this recipe from The Food Network, more specifically, Paula Deen.  I had always been afraid to make a cheesecake.  This was the first recipe I had tried and now I make it at least once a year.  So good!

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Crust
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick melted butter (salted)

Filling
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15 oz) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre heat oven to 350*. 

For crust: In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch spring form pan. Set aside.

For filling: Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

NOTES:  1 individually wrapped package of graham crackers is exactly 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs.  I used fresh pumpkin puree rather than canned and I think that affected the texture.  It wasn't quite as dense as it usually is when I've used canned pumpkin.



Press the crumb mixture on the bottom of the spring form pan.  I've seen pictures with the crust up along the side, but I'm not coordinated enough (or more likely, not patient enough) to do that.

 
Before the cake cooks, the filling is almost all the way to the top of the pan.  It will puff up a bit while it's cooking, but it'll settle and become more dense as it cools.

 
Fresh out of the oven.  Nice and caramel-y brown.  It comes out quite puffy, but once it cools on the wire rack, it falls a bit and ends up looking like your typical cheesecake.
 
 
YUM!  This has such good flavor, it really doesn't need any extra whipped cream or sauce on top.  The leftovers (if there are any) store very well in the fridge as long as it's covered with plastic wrap.
 
Do you have any recipes you were afraid to try but once you did, you loved it?

13 comments:

nail crazy said...

wow,I loooove cheese cake,I have never tried the one with a pumpkin but I bet it's good one :-)

Unknown said...

mmm that sounds and looks delicious!

Brooke said...

Looks yummms! I have a good recipe for one of these I got off the back of can of Libby's brand pumpkin, its really good.

Copyboy said...

It's amazing. You have single handedly gave me passion for pumpkin.

Robyn said...

PUMPKIN? CHEESECAKE? When can I move in with you?!

Rachel Elizabeth said...

This looks amazing. When I can have dairy again this is going on the top of my too do list.

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

As you know, cheese cake is not my thing. I will have to pass on this tastey dessert.

SilhouetteScreams said...

OH MY EFFING GOD. *steals*

Mamarazzi said...

oh my...i wish we were neighbors i would bring the tea/coffee and we could eat cheesecake and you could paint my nails...tee hee!

KarenD said...

But it wouldn't be wrong to add whipped cream, would it? ;)

Myya said...

YuuuuM!!!

Recalcitrant Nails said...

AWesome looking cheesecake. I'd like to lick the computer screen!

I'm rarely afraid of anything....so I will try any recipe and usually change it up as I'm making it which then I never know if its a fail because of what I did or what I shouldn't have done. LOL I love the experiment of baking/cooking as well as the successes.

As for your wacky week...I think you set me up. I wasn't planning on having a crazy busy week but as its progressed...UGH is all I have to say. Whirl.Wind. I'm not even looking forward to friday because its packed with 2 discharges and one intake and my usual routine for the day. BAH! I'm only getting excited when I get to leave tomorrow.

Happy Friday and Weekend to you!

Tempera said...

Looks Yummy. I have always also been afraid to try a cheesecake it's on my bucket list of things to do. Might seem odd but I really want to try my hand at this one day.