Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cheesecake
I love Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving because it is centered around food and family, and I love both. I also love that it is a holiday about appreciating what we have, not about giving gifts and commercialism and wanting things. Except for supermarkets, retailers go straight from Halloween to Christmas - radio stations start Christmas carols the day after Halloween. Far from resenting it, I actually like that the corporate world largely ignores Thanksgiving. It is a distinctly family-oriented and personal holiday that we can enjoy without stressing about anything but food (and maybe family if yours is a little crazy, like all families undoubtedly are).
If you, like me, actively enjoy stressing about food, then Thanksgiving is the most awesome holiday of the year. If you, like me, don't much like pumpkin pie, then here's an awesome dessert that still evokes the feeling of Thanksgiving but is one thousand times better than pumpkin pie because really, nothing can ever compete with a cheesecake. The wonderful thing about cheesecake is that you can make it a few days beforehand, and it actually tastes better than if you had made it on Thanksgiving day. It's one less thing to prepare, and everyone will devour it. Perhaps you shouldn't announce that you have this delectable dessert until you actually bring it out - maybe everyone will be too stuffed to eat a slice. I doubt it, though.
This year we had Thanksgiving with our neighbors, and the food was absolutely wonderful. It was a fantastic time spent stuffing ourselves and talking and playing games. I can't think of a single complaint, except that we should have group dinners more often. We ended up with enough to feed the entire neighborhood, but what is Thanksgiving without leftovers for a week? Luckily, we caught our only mishap before it was served - buttermilk doesn't whip up into whipped cream no matter how much the cartons look alike in the fridge. I wasn't together enough to take any pictures, but maybe tomorrow I'll at least snap a shot of a slice of cheesecake so you can see the delicious result.
Pumpkin-Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust
An excellent recipe from a family friend, Charles
Crust:
1 package (9 oz) Chocolate wafer cookies or chocolate graham crackers
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
Filling:
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
zest of two medium oranges (optional)
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Topping:
6 tablespoons caramel topping (marzetti works well)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Make crust: Preheat oven to 350. Cover the bottom of a 9" springform pan with parchment paper or tin foil pulled taut. Pulse cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Add butter and pulse until just incorporated. Pour crumbs into a 9" spring form pan and press over bottom and about 1" up the sides. Bake 7 minutes, then let cool on rack. Reduce oven tempurature to 310.
Make filling: In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, sugars and flour until smooth. Beat in eggs on low speed one at a time and scrape down sides in between each egg. Add pumpkin, cream, sour cream, maple syrup, orange zest if desired, and pumpkin pie spice and beat until just blended. Wrap bottom of pan with foil, pressing it up the outside protect it from becoming waterlogged and inedible.
Set springform pan in a roasting pan and pour filling into crust. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until the cheesecake barely jiggles when it is shaken, about 1 1/2 hours. Don't worry if it takes longer, just be patient and keep an eye on it. Let cheesecake cool on a rack 1 hour, then chill until cold, at least 5 hours.
Run a knife along the edge of the springform pan, then remove cheesecake from pan and place on a serving platter. Spoon warm caramel sauce over cheesecake. Arrange pecans around rim (or the entire top if you like pecans). Use a large sharp knife to cut the cheesecake. Enjoy.
If you, like me, actively enjoy stressing about food, then Thanksgiving is the most awesome holiday of the year. If you, like me, don't much like pumpkin pie, then here's an awesome dessert that still evokes the feeling of Thanksgiving but is one thousand times better than pumpkin pie because really, nothing can ever compete with a cheesecake. The wonderful thing about cheesecake is that you can make it a few days beforehand, and it actually tastes better than if you had made it on Thanksgiving day. It's one less thing to prepare, and everyone will devour it. Perhaps you shouldn't announce that you have this delectable dessert until you actually bring it out - maybe everyone will be too stuffed to eat a slice. I doubt it, though.
This year we had Thanksgiving with our neighbors, and the food was absolutely wonderful. It was a fantastic time spent stuffing ourselves and talking and playing games. I can't think of a single complaint, except that we should have group dinners more often. We ended up with enough to feed the entire neighborhood, but what is Thanksgiving without leftovers for a week? Luckily, we caught our only mishap before it was served - buttermilk doesn't whip up into whipped cream no matter how much the cartons look alike in the fridge. I wasn't together enough to take any pictures, but maybe tomorrow I'll at least snap a shot of a slice of cheesecake so you can see the delicious result.
Pumpkin-Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust
An excellent recipe from a family friend, Charles
Crust:
1 package (9 oz) Chocolate wafer cookies or chocolate graham crackers
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
Filling:
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
zest of two medium oranges (optional)
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Topping:
6 tablespoons caramel topping (marzetti works well)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Make crust: Preheat oven to 350. Cover the bottom of a 9" springform pan with parchment paper or tin foil pulled taut. Pulse cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Add butter and pulse until just incorporated. Pour crumbs into a 9" spring form pan and press over bottom and about 1" up the sides. Bake 7 minutes, then let cool on rack. Reduce oven tempurature to 310.
Make filling: In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, sugars and flour until smooth. Beat in eggs on low speed one at a time and scrape down sides in between each egg. Add pumpkin, cream, sour cream, maple syrup, orange zest if desired, and pumpkin pie spice and beat until just blended. Wrap bottom of pan with foil, pressing it up the outside protect it from becoming waterlogged and inedible.
Set springform pan in a roasting pan and pour filling into crust. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until the cheesecake barely jiggles when it is shaken, about 1 1/2 hours. Don't worry if it takes longer, just be patient and keep an eye on it. Let cheesecake cool on a rack 1 hour, then chill until cold, at least 5 hours.
Run a knife along the edge of the springform pan, then remove cheesecake from pan and place on a serving platter. Spoon warm caramel sauce over cheesecake. Arrange pecans around rim (or the entire top if you like pecans). Use a large sharp knife to cut the cheesecake. Enjoy.
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