I think cheesecake is one of my most favorite food groups! I love it in all its different flavor incarnations.

Thanksgiving calls for pumpkin, so – pumpkin, it is!

There are so many “rules” about baking cheesecakes – water baths, high temperature oven, low temperature oven, propping the oven door open, turning off the oven and letting the cheesecake cool in the oven…

I don’t follow any of them. I just make cheesecake, and, somehow, they always turn out fine…

I do think the biggest secret, though, is to make them 2 or 3 days before you plan to serve them. They really improve with age.

 

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The Crust:

  • 2 cups gingersnap crumbs
  • 1 tbsp candied ginger
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • pinch salt

The Filling:

  • 5 pkgs cream cheese, room temperature
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 can pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

The Topping:

  • 16 oz sour cream
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch cinnamon

Putting it together:

Preheat oven to 350º.  Mix crust ingredients and press evenly into bottom and partially up sides of 10″ springform pan.  Set aside.

Cream the cheese until light and fluffy. Add cream, mix well, add pumpkin, mix well.

Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sugars, vanilla, and , mixing until smooth and light. Pour into pan and bake 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool about 15 minutes.  Keep oven on.

Mix topping ingredients and spread onto top of cheesecake to within about 1/2 inch from edge.  Return to oven and bake about 7 more minutes.  Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate 2-3 days, if you can.

 

Oh… you may want to consider putting the cheesecake on a sheet pan before putting it in the oven. I made the cheesecake on Monday – and didn’t put it on a sheet pan. Butter dripped onto the bottom of the oven. I thought I would be a good boy and turn on the auto oven cleaner. 10 minutes into its 3 hour cycle, billowing clouds of smoke came pouring out – setting off all three of our hard-wired smoke detectors – and literally choking us with the fumes. We were opening windows, fanning the alarms with towels, and otherwise acting like complete lunatics for a good 10 minutes until things started calming down.

But the cheesecake did taste really good – and we have a clean oven. Today.