Let me just preface this by saying, the ingredients needed to make this damn cheesecake are expensive. $8 for spices (ginger and nutmeg); $7 for pecan halves, $3.50 for gingersnaps, $6 for cream cheese…buuuuuut the experience of tasting this cheesecake? Priceless.
Since it smells like football and deer hunting season outside, I thought it would be appropriate to bake something seasonal and fun. Fall is my very favorite time of year, and there was something about a Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake that screamed falling leaves and autumn. My mom was the first to mention this recipe to me, and because she is generally a connoisseur of all things dessert, I went with it. (And also because I was planning on making Indianapolis Colts cupcakes until I heard about Peyton’s surgery, so I’m holding off on that until the grieving process is over).
Anyways, I couldn’t find a perfect recipe, so I did a little mixing and matching. For the crust, I used a gingersnap cookie recipe that I found online – trust me, with this cake, gingersnaps AlWAYS trump graham crackers. Then, I found the Better Homes and Gardens pumpkin cheesecake recipe and combined it with a praline recipe I found in an old cookbook. Voila!
Oh – I almost forgot to mention: Always do your research prior to taking on baking tasks. I’m used to quick and simple dessert recipes, and after realizing how involved this projects was, I wondered what I got myself into. But I am here to tell you that it was well worth it.
Step 1: Make the Praline topping
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of brown sugar (packed)
- 4 tablespoons of butter (unsalted please)
- ¾ cup of chopped pecans
- Pretty simple: Preheat the oven to 325° F and line a cookie sheet with foil.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar until completed blended.
- Bring to a boil for one minute without stirring.
- Add pecans until they are completely coated.
- Spread out onto the cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool, break into pieces, and set aside.
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| Brown sugar and buttery goodness boiling. |
Step 2: Make the crust..
Ingredients:
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| 2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ cup melted butter, 1 tsp nutmeg |
- Crush the gingersnap cookies (I put mine in a baggie and crushed them with a hammer, which is pretty much the only time I use that hammer)
- Drizzle melted butter over the cookie crumbs; add cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Mix well and then transfer to springform pan by pressing the mixture onto the bottom of the pan and one inch up the sides.
- Bake at 325° F for about 6-8 minutes. Let cool completely.
Step 3: Make the cheescake.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 packages of cream cheese (8oz each, softened)
- 20 oz pumpkin
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 4 large eggs
- Beat together sugar and cream cheese. Mix in flour.
- Add pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Transfer to the cooled crust.
- Bake for 55 minutes at 375°F.
FINALLY: Once the cheesecake has baked, refrigerate overnight. Release the pan sides, put on platter, and cover the top of the cake with the praline crumbles. For better presentation, leave one inch plain border around the edge of the cake.
Cut and serve!
Annnddd I'm out.
Hasta luego, Camaradas.
<3 Meg
