My favorite meal of the entire year is Thanksgiving. It is not only the ultimate comfort food, but the ultimate “comfort day”, with flavors and aromas that allow me to time-travel to my grandmother’s house decades past. The aroma of roasted turkey and freshly baked bread rival my favorite baking aroma: brownies in the oven.

Now that the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner has been handed down from grandmother to mother to me, I’ve been “tweaking” the menu and recipes, trying to create the perfect blend of tradition and creativity. My most recent “tweaks” are brined turkey and pumpkin cheesecake.

I know that for zillions of people, pumpkin pie is a mandatory part of the Thanksgiving dessert table. I like pumpkin pie, but I don’t love pumpkin pie. I do love cheesecake, though, and I really like the melding of these two desserts. Cheesecake is easier to make than most people think; in fact, easier than pie. If you have struggled with trying to make a decent pie crust, then maybe a pumpkin cheesecake with a graham cracker crust is the answer for you.

Most of the questions I receive regarding cheesecakes (I teach baking classes at American River College) have to do with the problem of unsightly cracks in the baked cheesecake. I will share with you my pumpkin cheesecake recipe, along with many tips to help prevent lumpy batter and avoid cracking during or after baking. A “how to” video and the recipe can be seen below.

Happy Baking,

Judy Parks

Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe:
1 – 9″ Cheesecake with Graham or Gingersnap Crust

Crust:

• 1 C Graham Cracker Crumbs Or Gingersnap Crumbs
• ¼ C Sugar
• ¼ C Butter, Melted

Combine all ingredients. Press into bottom of 9″ or 10″ springform pan or 10″ x 3″ deep pan. If you are using a cake pan, first line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper or waxed paper. Bake crust 3500 for 10 minutes.

Filling:

• 2 Lb. Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tbl. Flour
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
• ¼ tsp. Nutmeg
• 5 Eggs
• 15 Oz. Can Pumpkin Puree
• 1/3 Cup Heavy Cream (Optional)
• 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

Steps:

1. Blend cream cheese, sugars and spices on low speed till softened. Stop and scrape the bowl and beater several times. Do not whip a lot of air into the batter as this can contribute to cracking.
2. Blend in flour.
3. Blend in eggs, 1 at a time, scraping bowl before adding the next egg.
4. Blend in cream if you want a softer cheesecake. Omit the cream if you want a slightly drier, firmer cheesecake.
5. Blend in pumpkin in 3 additions, scraping after each addition. Blend in vanilla.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake in a water bath, 350º F, approximately 1 hour, or until the cheesecake yields a firm jiggle when gently touched. If you want to be certain that the cheesecake is done, check the temperature in the center of the cake with an instant read thermometer. A range of 150º F. to 160º F indicates doneness. Remove from water bath, let cool 5 to 10 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge of the cake. This will help the cake contract without cracking. Cool to room temperature away from drafts. Refrigerate overnight before unpanning. To unpan a cheesecake from a springform pan, first cut around the edge, then warm the bottom on the stove top, just until the bottom feels warm, then release the clasp. Using a long metal spatula, slide the cake onto the serving plate.
8. To unmold the cheesecake that was baked in a cake pan: cut around the sides, warm the bottom of the pan on the stove top just until the bottom feels warm, then invert onto a plate, remove the cake pan and immediately invert onto the serving plate.
9. Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Tips:

• A lot of emphasis is placed on scraping the bowl and beater. This helps eliminate lumps. Lumps are pieces of cream cheese that are not thoroughly blended with the other ingredients. Cold cream cheese is more likely to produce a lumpy batter than room temp. cream cheese.
• You can adjust the spices to suit you taste. Maple extract is a nice addition.
• Cracking is caused by several things: oven temperature too hot, whipping too much air into the batter, cooling the baked cake too rapidly, bumping the cake while it is still warm, natural contraction of the cake during cooling.
• Baking at 350º F, in a water bath helps avoid cracking. If using a spingform pan, wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent water leaking into the pan. (I’ve never found a springform pan that is water-tight.) Mixing on low speed will reduce the amount of air incorporated into the batter. To cool the cake slowly, you can turn off your oven, open the door, and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven.