Native to the Americas, pumpkins have enough natural sweetness to make them a perfect ingredient in desserts. Before the pumpkin spice craze swept the US in the 2000s, pumpkin was commonly paired with cheesecake for a spiced dessert. Cheesecakes have been eaten around the world since antiquity but were transformed in the US during the late 1800s and 1900s. It was 1872 when cream cheese was accidentally made in New York by a man trying to replicate the French cheese, Neufchâtel. The smooth texture of cream cheese mixes well with pumpkin puree for a variant on the classic New York-style cheesecake. In the United States, National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day is celebrated on October 21.
Recipe Servings: 8
+ 3 hours resting
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust:
- 1½ cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 6 Tbsp butter, melted
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
Cheesecake:
- 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground cloves
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- Whipped cream, as needed for topping (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.
- Bake for 7 minutes. Cool before using.
- Lower oven temperature to 325°F.
- In a large bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla, and beat until smooth.
- One at a time, add in the eggs, blending well between each.
- Remove 1 cup of the batter and spread over the graham cracker crust. Set aside.
- To the remaining batter, add the pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and gently blend.
- Carefully pour the mixture over the batter in the crust-lined pie plate.
- Bake for 30–40 minutes, until the edges are set but 2–3 inches around the center is still wobbly. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight before slicing.
- Serve each slice topped with a dollop of whipped cream, if using.
For Graham Cracker Crust:
For Cheesecake:
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