Oh luscious luscious cheesecake. You evil vixen you, so smooth and unassuming, just minding your own business atop a crumbling graham pedestal.
Oh luscious luscious cheesecake. You conspire to do us all in, inviting pumpkin to your otherworldly mix. Spreading lactose laced autumnal glory.
Oh luscious luscious cheesecake. Why so fickle? You crack and deface yourself if I step away for just a moment too long. Marring your beautiful surface with a fissure so gruesome I’ve no alternative but to start again and give you my slavish devotion.
Oh luscious luscious cheesecake. Why must I eat you in your entirety and suffer for the rest of the day in Philly fueled agony. Only to succumb again next time we cross paths.
Oh luscious luscious cheesecake. If I love you, I’ll let you go. I shall share your secrets with equally devout disciples so that they may indulge in your criminally insane caloric bacchanalia.
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
Preheat oven to 325
8” to 10” springform pan. Bottom lined with parchment paper and sprayed liberally with nonstick cooking spray.
CRUST
2 ½ cups graham crackers pulverized to oblivion in a food processor (measure after pulverizing. Really. So much easier.)
1 stick butter melted
In a medium sized bowl, pour about half the melted butter over your graham “sand” and mix it up. It should hold together when you pinch a bit between your fingers but it should NOT be soggy. Add more butter if needed. Dump your graham mixture into your prepared springform and pat the crumbs firmly to form a nice bottom crust. You can use the flat bottom surface of a measuring cup to make this easier. Bake at 325 for 5 to 10 minutes. Put it aside while you make your batter.
BATTER
4 room temperature 8-ounce packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
finely grated rind of one orange (optional)
5 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons flour
In a stand mixer, whip cream cheese, mascarpone cheese and sugar until very smooth. Very very smooth. Add eggs one at a time and then yolks. Add pumpkin puree, spices and vanilla. When all of this is looking smooth and tasty, add flour until just combined. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and transfer to the oven CAREFULLY! Bake for 45 minutes and then LOWER the temperature to 225. And then bake for another 1 to 2 hours. Hey, it may take even longer. What you’ll want to do is shimmy the pan a little and see if your cheesecake is still wobbly. If it’s shaking like untoned arm fat, keep it going. If it gives just a little, just barely giving way in the manner of your belly when you suck it in when parading around in a bathing suit, you’re good to go. Take it out and let it rest. But do be patient. If you want a crackless cheesecake, it’s going to take a big chunk of your time and when it’s done perfectly, it’ll take a big chunk of your heart.
9 comments:
Ohmylordhavemercy, I can't believe you are sharing THIS one!! My boy, 10, was sitting beside me and I said, "You are not going to believe this, but..." and he said we have to make this today. NOW. This morning. If we start now we could be eating it by early afternoon...
The thing is, I know exactly what you mean with the untoned arm fat but I'm guessing that perhaps our bellies do not do the same thing when sucked in for bathing suit wear. I'll have to choose some other body part and improvise... : )
Gesine,
I am SO gonna use this for Thanksgiving! Thank you. I am in charge of dessert this year and didn't know what I was going to make. Now I know. And your directions are all very easy to follow. I'll let you know how it goes
hey Gesine! it's KZ, long since departed VT and your employ for architecting in the south. but my sister told me you have a blog, and I come here to find you've posted a recipe to my absolute favorite thing!! I still think of this cheesecake with fondness and not a little salivation. thanks for sharing! now, back to attempting to find a scone that's even half as good as yours...
Thanks for the great recipe. We are going to try it for Thanksgiving. However, I too have to improvise on the body part. I am simply unable to suck in any portion of my fairly large belly - that will undoubtedly get larger once I eat this cheesecake and become addicted to the same.
Happy Holidays.
Susan
I am your humble servant Gesine.... I just made this cheesecake and it is simply divine (yes, it was meant for Thanksgiving, but our guests will have to stick with the other desserts I'm making - this cheesecake is MINE, oh, and my hubby can share I suppose). Unfortunately, it did crack - any tips for next time? And yes, I let it rest, and even turned off the lights and sung it a lullaby, but still cracked. But scrumptious nonetheless and I thank you for sharing the recipe! ~erlyn
For no cracking, lower temperature next time. My oven is a steady eddy 325. But I don't use convection and sometimes I'll check on it and realize that it may need to rest a bit longer at a lower temperature. You can (1) reduce the time it stays at a higher temperature by 10 minutes, (2) reduce the higher temperature by 5 degrees and/or (3) then keep it at the lower temp even longer. It's time consuming. But for no cracks, it's the way to go. Unless you smother it with ganache and then no one will be the wiser.
Oh, heaven help me. Now that I have this recipe I'll have PLENTY of untoned arm fat! I'm a sucker for 2 things: Pumpkin and Cheesecake. And if you put them together - I'm a goner. Thanks Gesine!! Can't wait to try it!!
Thanx so much for the recipe! I don't have any access to Mascarpone, any substitutes?
Absolutely delicious! I used a 9" springform and had way more filling than would fit so I made 3 small ramekins of deliciousness. It took a while but worked great and had only 1 small crack but who cares? My 4-year old loves it too.
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