Saturday, October 4, 2008

My Favorite Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake (I have made this three times and its AMAZING!)

Ingredients
Serves 12
FOR THE CRUST
1 1/4 cups graham-cracker crumbs (from 10 whole crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
FOR THE FILLING
4 packages (8 ounces each) bar cream cheese , very soft
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons pumpkin-pie spice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. Assemble a 9-inch nonstick springform pan, with the raised side of the bottom part facing up.
Make the crust: In a medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until moistened; press firmly into bottom of pan. Bake until golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes.
Make the filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar on low speed until smooth; mix in flour (do not overmix). Add pumpkin puree, pie spice, vanilla, and salt; mix just until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each is incorporated before adding the next.
Place springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour filling into springform, and gently smooth top. Transfer to oven; reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. (you can put the cake in a water bath to ensure its cooks evenly) Bake 45 minutes. Turn off oven; let cheesecake stay in oven 2 hours more (without opening).
Remove from oven; cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. Unmold before serving.

2 comments:

Heidi said...

I loved it when you made this cheesecake! Also, I may have to learn how to cook kosher for the family I might work with. That should be interesting!

Sarah P said...

YOU ARE GONNA WORK FOR THE JEWS? HOORAY!!! :) cooking kosher is hard and complicated! Let me know if you ever have questions? I probably can't answer them but could point you in the right direction :)