Pumpkin Cheesecake makes a great dessert any time of year, even though we often only think of it in the Fall.
I love Fall. The nights are cold, the days warm, and there is pumpkin everywhere!!! I love pumpkin even more than Fall. And I’m not talking about the pumpkin spice coffee drinks, either. When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to make many pumpkin pies during the fall and winter. I can remember the first year she tried a crust-less pie. Many in the family weren’t too impressed, but I loved it. This wasn’t because I didn’t like the crust. Pie crust is yummy, especially to a six year old. But what I loved more than anything, was that creamy, pumpkin goodness.
I don’t remember when I was introduced to cheesecake but I can remember my first pumpkin cheesecake at a neighborhood friend’s house. What a wonderful combination – cheesecake and pumpkin! It’s one of the most delicious combinations of flavor! And how could it not be?
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does! The first time I made it, I also made an apple pie and a super high carb cheesecake sopapilla for other family members. But this was the only dessert that my carb-loving family members requested again just a week later! it goes well with most meals, but let me recommend you try it after serving Mediterranean Chicken Piccata for dinner. And let me make one other recommendation: pumpkin cheesecake isn’t just for desert anymore – it can be for breakfast too!
Tip:
This recipe calls for using a pie pan, because most people have one of those. I use a Pyrex Easy Grab Glass Pie Plate for this recipe and it works out great. You can get two of them on Amazon for under $20! We serve it straight from the pie pan, but you could remove it from the pan by placing your serving plate over the top (upside down) and flipping the cake over so that it’s inverted on the plate. Then carefully lift the pie plate. Some additional instructions on this procedure are in the recipe below. However, you can also use a spring form pan. If you have one, I assume you know how to use it so those instructions are not included.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 24 oz full fat cream cheese
- 15 oz Pumpkin puree (unsweetened, not pie mix)
- 1/2 cup sugar alternative (such as Splenda, Truvia, etc.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Leave cream cheese and eggs on counter for 20-30 minutes to warm to room temperature
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Lightly coat a deep pie pan with vegetable oil using paper towel. If you want transfer the cake to a serving plate, line the bottom of the oiled pie pan with a round piece of parchment paper, then also lightly coat the top of the parchment paper with oil using the paper towel you used earlier.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth.
- To the cream cheese, add all other ingredients except eggs and beat until smooth.
- Add eggs to the bowl and beat on low just until combined.
- Pour the cream cheese pumpkin mix into prepared pan.
- Place the pie pan into a roasting pan and add water to the roasting pan until it's about halfway up the side of the pie pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until cake is set in center.
- Turn off oven and open the oven door slightly to let some heat escape, letting cake cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove cake pan from water filled roasting pan and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.
- Using a knife or rubber/silicone spatula, carefully separate the edge of the cake from the pan sightly.
- If you didn't add parchment paper, skip to the next step. If you added parchment paper to the bottom of the pan, now is the time to transfer the cake to your serving plate. To do this, first set the pie pan it in a shallow bath of hot water for about a minute to loosen the bottom. Now place our serving plate, upside down, over the top of pie pan. Hold the plate tightly onto the pan and carefully flip both so the plate side is down and the pie pan side is up. Allow the cake to drop from the pan on to the plate. If it sticks a bit, firmly hold the pie pan in place while tapping the sides and top with a wooden spoon. This should make the cake pop out. Carefully remove the pie pan by lifting straight up. Then peel off parchment paper.
- Cover the cheesecake with a loose piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours. It must be very cold when cut and served.
Notes
I like this pie pan. Amazon has a two pack on the cheap!
