Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
Cheesecake and I were not always the best of friends. If it wasn’t one this or another but I could just never get it right. My crust would fall apart. The top cracked. The water bath leaked into the spring form pan. The cheesecake contorted after I unmolded. You name it and it happened.
I recently decided I’d give it another try and this one was for all the marbles. If it didn’t work out, my quest for cheesecake perfection was over.
Along the way I learned a few things, which as you can see resulted in one stunning cheesecake. The individual steps of making cheesecake are not at all difficult. But the process requires tons of patience and restrain.
First, I realized that I had to wrap my spring form pan in a piece of aluminum foil that was bigger than the pan itself. In other words, you shouldn’t have to use two pieces. Because that leaves room for water from the bath to seep in and ruin the bottom of your cheesecake. My solution for this (since I had a bigger pan) was to use heavy duty aluminum, which normally comes in a larger sized roll.
I also realized that I wasn’t getting intimate with the crumbs of my crust. It’s important for you to use your hands and really press them into the bottom of the pan. And depending on how much you have, you may also have to press some crumbs up the side of the pan.
The part of exercising patience and restrain comes in after the cheesecake starts to bake. Don’t “check” it a zillion times, as opening the oven so often will affect the temperature the cheesecake bakes. But don’t leave it in there longer than necessary. I checked mine after an hour. It had a slight jiggle but was no longer liquid in the center. That was my cue to take it out of the oven.
I let the cheesecake cool completely on my counter before I unmolded it. This part is super super hard but it extremely important. But even more difficult is that even after you unmold it, you still can’t dig into it because then it has to finish setting in the fridge for a while, preferably over night.
All of this due diligence and waiting paid off in the end as this creation turned out to be what cheesecake dreams are made of. For a while all I did was stare at it. I couldn’t believe I created it. And the taste was phenomenal – sweet, tart, cheesey, pumpkiny, spicy, crunchy.
Give this or another cheesecake recipe a try this coming weekend. The end result will make you pretty darn happy and proud of yourself.
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
Ingredients:
For The Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 9 ounces)
1 cup pecans (about 3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, meltedFor The Filling
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extractDirections:
For The Crust - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Grind cookie crumbs, pecans, brown sugar, and ginger in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and pulse to blend. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and press onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of pan. Bake crust until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely before adding the filling.
For The Filling - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating on low speed to incorporate each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
Add the flour mixture and beat just to blend. Transfer filling to cooled crust. Bake until filling is just set in center and edges begin to crack (filling will move slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool the cheesecake completely (about 1 hour). Run knife around sides of pan to release crust. Chill cheesecake uncovered in pan overnight.
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vanillasugarblog — January 25, 2012 @ 11:28 am
ohhh chica, just gorgeous. now that’s one seriously good looking cheesecake.
Monique — January 25, 2012 @ 11:49 am
I absolutely ADORE this! and Gingersnap crusts always win me over! I can totally taste this MMMM
Rosa — January 25, 2012 @ 12:01 pm
Divine! Those flavors pair wondeerfully well together.
Cheers,
Rosa
5 Star Foodie — January 25, 2012 @ 12:46 pm
The gingersnap crust sounds amazing to go with the pumpkin spiced filling, nice!
Abby — January 25, 2012 @ 1:13 pm
I’ve never made a cheesecake that didn’t crack. Ever. Of course they still taste good with cracks, and you can use lots of tasty stuff to cover the cracks! But I’m going to try your tricks next time and see if I can meet with success, too!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar — January 25, 2012 @ 2:59 pm
Mmm what a cake! This sounds awesome.
Joanne — January 26, 2012 @ 7:10 am
I’ve had very mixed results when it comes to cheesecake…and when I inevitably end up with cracks because of carelessness…I just frost. Buttercream and cheesecake? Totally a thing.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one with pumpkin still on the brain! I have THREE pumpkin desserts in my drafts folders. And now this is going on the to-make-immediately list. So soon…I’ll have four.
Coretta Campbell — January 26, 2012 @ 9:12 am
OMG this look delish!
CookiePie — January 26, 2012 @ 10:03 am
Beautiful! And thanks for all the great tips!
Miya — January 26, 2012 @ 10:18 am
OH MY GOSH!
That sounds…. fantastic. I made a eggnog cheesecake once… it had a gingersnap crust. I really think the slightly spicy flavors in the gingersnap cookies add something special. I can’t wait to try this.
Amish Stories — January 26, 2012 @ 1:43 pm
thats a new twist that ive seen for cheese cake with pumpkins, and i bet that it will taste great! Richard
Jelli — January 26, 2012 @ 9:15 pm
Love this! So glad you had cheesecake luck this time. I actually just finished baking 2 cheesecakes that are currently cooling. Not sure if either will be a winner because 1 is a diabetic cheesecake someone requested, and though supposedly it should be good, the raw batter still had the icky Splenda flavor, and the other one, a spectacular recipe from Annie’s-Eats (she has LOADs of c.cake recetas) I think I partially underbaked. Fingers still crossed for that one though. Thanks for sharing!
Gloria — January 27, 2012 @ 12:09 am
I have always been a little afraid to make cheesecake but I’ve had it on my mind since Christmas. I definitely want to give it a go. Thanks for sharing your learnings. Your cheesecake looks fabulous. So glad you didn’t give up!
Mary — January 27, 2012 @ 10:10 am
I love the combination of pumpkin and ginger and your recipe sounds delicious. Better still it looks wonderful. I really will have to try your recipe. – SOON! Havea wonderful weekend. Blessings…Mary
Lori @ RecipeGirl — January 27, 2012 @ 10:28 am
Yay for perfection!!! It took me a while to get that water bath just right, but now I make it that way every time and… no cracks, ever! I made a slightly similar cheesecake recipe for my cookbook. Took me a few (expensive) tries to get it right. Yours looks amazing!
Michelle — January 27, 2012 @ 1:53 pm
Hey you! It’s been awhile…missed your blog:). This cheesecake looks fabulous!! I love gingerbread…this crust sounds amazing!
A Plum By Any Other Name — January 28, 2012 @ 8:02 am
Well worth the wait. Eliana, it looks gorgeous! And I’m a fan of anything gingery, so, for my money, a crust like that is perfection.
Wendy — January 28, 2012 @ 7:05 pm
Gorgeous cheesecake and it sounds delicious!
Brian @ A Thought For Food — January 29, 2012 @ 9:34 am
I’m so glad you had a good experience with this cheesecake… I have only made it twice, because, really… I just eat the whole thing myself.
Magic of Spice — January 30, 2012 @ 9:35 pm
Cheesecakes can be a bit tricky…good tips! This is gorgeous and I am in love with the flavors…excellent!