Pumpkin Cheesecake
Like penne alla vodka, pumpkin cheesecake is a food whose exact history is difficult to pin down. Newspaper food section clippings from the early 1970's reference "pumpkin cheese pie," noting that it's like a cheesecake, and "sherried pumpkin cheesecake," indicating that, like fondue and wine spritzers, this dish came of age during the hip aesthetic of the swinging seventies. One reliable source I found indicated that the recipe first appeared in the venerable Better Homes and Gardens in 1971.
When- and wherever it originated, pumpkin cheesecake is a welcome visitor to the autumn dessert table. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies or pumpkin pie are all beloved expressions of the season's favorite food, but a pumpkin cheesecake is an honest-to-goodness dessert, complex and decadent, and just a touch snooty. That said, it's easy to find an indifferent pumpkin cheesecake - in which the crust is mushy because sweet-natured graham crackers don't have the wherewithall to heft a pumpkin filling on their delicate shoulders, or that filling is glorified pie custard, evidencing no real reason for the cream cheese to have been included at all.
This version uses crushed gingersnaps to form a crunchy, caramelized crust that forms the perfect shell for the rich flavors of the lightly, but not overwhelmingly, spiced cheesecake filling. (A friend of mine -- one of the most talented chefs whose food I've ever been privileged to eat -- suggests using a combination of gingersnaps and chocolate graham crackers for the crust). Serve your pumpkin cheesecake after a wonderful autumn meal, with a full-bodied autumn coffee.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
If possible, make your gingersnaps yourself or buy them from a bakery. Remember that a cheesecake must be removed from the oven before it has completed cooking, or else at it cools the top will crack. Oven temperatures vary so start checking at 35 minutes: look for an area somewhat larger than the circumference of a quarter in the center of the cheesecake to be slightly jiggly when you shake the pan.
For the crust
1-1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the cheesecake
2 8-ounce bricks cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
For the top
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1. Early in the day, place cream cheese into a large mixing bowl to soften. Place brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cloves into a small bowl and use a fork to mash together; set aside.
2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
3. Mix sugar into crushed gingersnaps. Melt butter and pour in a thin stream into gingersnap mixtures, stirring constantly until mixture comes together.
4. Pat the crust onto the bottom and up the side of the springform pan. It is okay if the crust doesn't reach the top.
5. Place pan into oven and bake until crust is just set, approximately 4 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.
6. Add sugar to the softened cream cheese and mix until sugar is incorporated and mixture is creamy.
7. Add pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves to cheese mixture; mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
8. Add eggs and mix until smooth.
9. Add cream in a thin stream, mixing just until smooth.
10. Gently spoon filling into crust. Sprinkle top with brown sugar-clove mixture.
11. Bake until just barely set. Check cheesecake beginning at 35 minutes and at five-minute intervals thereafter. Remove cheesecake from oven when an area somewhat larger than the size of a quarter is jiggly when pan is shaken.
12. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
13. After 15 minutes, loosen sides of springform pan (cake should have pulled away from sides) and remove. Continue cooling, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. Chill until ready to serve.
When- and wherever it originated, pumpkin cheesecake is a welcome visitor to the autumn dessert table. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies or pumpkin pie are all beloved expressions of the season's favorite food, but a pumpkin cheesecake is an honest-to-goodness dessert, complex and decadent, and just a touch snooty. That said, it's easy to find an indifferent pumpkin cheesecake - in which the crust is mushy because sweet-natured graham crackers don't have the wherewithall to heft a pumpkin filling on their delicate shoulders, or that filling is glorified pie custard, evidencing no real reason for the cream cheese to have been included at all.
This version uses crushed gingersnaps to form a crunchy, caramelized crust that forms the perfect shell for the rich flavors of the lightly, but not overwhelmingly, spiced cheesecake filling. (A friend of mine -- one of the most talented chefs whose food I've ever been privileged to eat -- suggests using a combination of gingersnaps and chocolate graham crackers for the crust). Serve your pumpkin cheesecake after a wonderful autumn meal, with a full-bodied autumn coffee.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
If possible, make your gingersnaps yourself or buy them from a bakery. Remember that a cheesecake must be removed from the oven before it has completed cooking, or else at it cools the top will crack. Oven temperatures vary so start checking at 35 minutes: look for an area somewhat larger than the circumference of a quarter in the center of the cheesecake to be slightly jiggly when you shake the pan.
For the crust
1-1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the cheesecake
2 8-ounce bricks cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
For the top
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1. Early in the day, place cream cheese into a large mixing bowl to soften. Place brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cloves into a small bowl and use a fork to mash together; set aside.
2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
3. Mix sugar into crushed gingersnaps. Melt butter and pour in a thin stream into gingersnap mixtures, stirring constantly until mixture comes together.
4. Pat the crust onto the bottom and up the side of the springform pan. It is okay if the crust doesn't reach the top.
5. Place pan into oven and bake until crust is just set, approximately 4 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.
6. Add sugar to the softened cream cheese and mix until sugar is incorporated and mixture is creamy.
7. Add pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves to cheese mixture; mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
8. Add eggs and mix until smooth.
9. Add cream in a thin stream, mixing just until smooth.
10. Gently spoon filling into crust. Sprinkle top with brown sugar-clove mixture.
11. Bake until just barely set. Check cheesecake beginning at 35 minutes and at five-minute intervals thereafter. Remove cheesecake from oven when an area somewhat larger than the size of a quarter is jiggly when pan is shaken.
12. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
13. After 15 minutes, loosen sides of springform pan (cake should have pulled away from sides) and remove. Continue cooling, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. Chill until ready to serve.
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