During the holidays we have a hard time deciding between pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake for dessert. Well, problem solved! This super rich and luxurious pumpkin cheesecake is topped with a dark and decadent pecan pie-like topping that brings these epitomes of holiday desserts together.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1 - 10 | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 1 hour 35 minutes | 6 hours or more |
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During the holidays we have a hard time deciding between pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake for dessert. Well, problem solved! This super rich and luxurious pumpkin cheesecake is topped with a dark and decadent pecan pie-like topping that brings these epitomes of holiday desserts together.
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Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 9 ounces, or 16 whole cracker sheets)
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
For the Cheesecake Filling:
- 1-1/2 pounds cream cheese COMPLETELY softened to room temperature
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling), purged of water (see belwo)
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 6 eggs rom temperature
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1-1/2 t-spoon ground cinnamon
- Heaping 1/8 t-spoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated preferred)
- 1/8 t-spoon ground cloves
- 1/8 t-spoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 t-spoon ground ginger
- 1/8 t-spoon kosher salt
For the Pecan Topping:
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 6 ounces whole pecans chopping into small pieces
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1/2 t-spoon vanilla extract
- Pinch kosher salt
Servings:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a food processor, blitz graham crackers, melted butter and sugar until well combined and resembles wet sand. Press into a spring form pan, which you’ve wrapped in a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil measuring 18” x 22”. Make sure that there are no creases, tears or gaps that water from the water bath can sneak through. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until it begins to brown and firm slightly. Remove and cool completely.
- While the crust is cooling, lay out 4 layers of paper towel on a baking sheet. Dump the pumpkin on to the paper towel and spread it out as thin as you can with a rubber spatula, keeping it about ½” away from the edges.
- Lay four more sheets of paper towel over the top, and press down on it with your hands, letting the paper towel soak up the water from the puree. Once you’ve got as much water out as you can, lift the top layer of paper towel off, and start to fold each end of the bottom layer of towel up so the pumpkin falls to the center. You may need to scrape it off a little with a rubber spatula but don’t worry—it comes off pretty easy. Weigh the remaining pumpkin puree—you want it to be about 7.5 ounces (this is at most—6.5 ounces at least). If it weights more than that repeat the water-purging process with clean paper towel again.
- For the cheesecake filling, in a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese slightly to combine before adding the sugar, spices and salt. Beat on medium until it’s combined—about 30 seconds.
- Add the pumpkin puree, and beat on medium for 60 – 90 seconds, until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, allowing them each to become well incorporated before adding the next. After three eggs are in, shut off the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure all is combining well.
- Tap the mixing bowl against the counter and along the sides with a wooden spoon and let any air bubbles come to the surface and pop.
- Pour the batter into the spring form and place into a roasting tray, open the oven door, pull the wrack out and set the roasting pan on it. Pour in warm water—enough to come halfway up the spring form (my roasting tray is 16” x 13” and it takes about 4 quarts/1 gallon to reach halfway up the spring form). Its easiest to use a tea kettle or large liquid measuring cup with a good spout for this to help prevent water from splashing into the cheesecake – you sooo do not want that!
- Shut the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 325°. Bake for 55 minutes.
- A few minutes or so before the cheesecake’s 55 minutes is up, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, eggs, cream, and vanilla, and stir to combine.
- Now, for this next step you have to act pretty quickly. When the cheesecake’s time is up, open the oven door, pull the wrack out but keep the cake in the tray and the tray in the oven. Scatter the chopped nuts carefully over the cheesecake, as evenly as possible. Pour over the thick and darkly sweet mixture, trying to coat the cake as evenly as you can—again, without taking too much time. Try to pour it gently so the nuts don’t puncture the surface of the cheesecake. You also don’t want to get to finicky about spreading it out because it can cause the nuts to pierce the top of the cheesecake custard, which, because its still under baked within, would be detrimental to your cake. Immediately slide the wrack back in the oven and close the door. The reason you have to work quickly here is because you do not want to expose the cheesecake to the cooler temperature outside of the oven too quickly or for too long; this is one of the causes of a cheesecake’s cracking or deflating too much.
- Anyway, give this another 20 – 25 minutes of baking. You’ll know that it’s done when you get the pan a gentle shake or tap, and you can see a slight wobble in the cake still—it shouldn’t shake like Jell-O or anything, but, rather, have the gentle sway. Turn the oven off and crack the door slightly (somewhere around 15 – 30° angle). Allow the oven to cool completely before opening the door all the way and pulling out the over wrack and allow to cool one additional hour. Remove from the water bath and move to the fridge to cool completely, at least 4 hours.
- The cheesecake will sink ever so slightly upon chilling in the fridge, but not much. Run a small pairing knife around the edge of the cake just to loosen the top layer of the pecan pie topping from the pan, and remove the sides of the spring form pan, then slice into wedges for everyone. To keep the cuts clean on the cake, and the knife from getting gunked up with the custard, dip the knife into warm water and quickly wipe with paper towel in between cuts.
Recipe Notes
- Your cream cheese and eggs MUST be room temperature, otherwise you'll never get the right texture. The best method is to just leave the cream cheese out on the counter (out of the box, but still in the foil package) for 4 - 6 hours. You can do the same with the eggs, or put them in a bowl of warm water for about an hour (just change the water out halfway through). And don't even think about microwaving the cream cheese!
- Make sure you use extra large, heavy-duty aluminum foil (two layers) so no water from the water bath gets in.
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