For the past two years I have made pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving. My mom and I aren't huge fans of pumpkin pie. I know, we're odd for not liking pumpkin pie. I'll eat it, but it's not my first preference when it comes to pies. This year, my mom requested pumpkin cheesecake again.
 |
| Thanksgiving 2010 |
 |
| Thanksgiving 2011 |
Even though these two cheesecakes look fairly different, the recipes are almost the same with a few minor adjustments.
Ingredients (first cheesecake)
Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons butter
Filling
3 (8 ounces) packages of cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar with the melted butter. Press it into a 8" springform pan. In this case, the recipe makes too much crust and I ended up having the crust up the sides of the springform pan as well.
Bake the crust for about 5 minutes.
For the filling, cream together the cream cheese, sugar, and the vanilla extract with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in one egg at a time until smooth.
Mix together the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
Add in about a 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture to the pumpkin mixture and thoroughly combine. Set aside about 2 tablespoons of this mixture for the top marbling design.
Pour the pumpkin mixture into the graham cracker crust, then the cream cheese mixture on top to for a two layered cheesecake.
Drop the 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin mixture across the top of the cheesecake.
To make the marbled pattern, use a knife or a toothpick and follow the directions of the arrows in the picture below.
Bake the cheesecake for about an hour until the center is still a bit underdone because the cheesecake will continue to cook as it's cooling.
After it has cooled, store in the fridge overnight until the cheesecake is completely set.
For the second cheesecake, I used the exact same recipe except the crust measurements from 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs mixed with 1/4 cup melted butter. I reduced the cream cheese mixture as well to make a smaller cheesecake, so I used 2 packages of cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 large eggs instead of the previous recipes measurements. After mixing together the pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. About 2 tablespoons of that mixture was set aside (for the marbling on top) before the entire pumpkin mixture was incorporated into the cream cheese mixture. The second cheesecake did not have the 2 layers like the first. With the marbling, I followed to same pattern as the arrows in the picture above, but then added in circular swirls into the top as well to add more affects in the marbling.
Tips in baking cheesecakes:
Bake the cheesecake in a water bath to make sure that the cheesecake doesn't cook at too high of a temperature. This helps in preventing cracking and burning.
I've also heard covering the cheesecake with foil as it's baking also helps prevent cracks, but I've honestly never tired this method.
Let the cheesecake cool inside the oven with the oven door open, before letting it cool out of the oven. Making sure it cools at a slow rate will also help the cracks and consistency of the cheesecake.
When the cheesecake if finally out of the oven to cool, run a sharp knife around the edge of the springform pan to loosen the sides so it cools away from the pan and will not stick.
Also remember to let it completely set in the fridge overnight after it has cooled. Being patient with this step is worth it.
Personally, I like the taste of the second recipe better, but the look of the first one more since the second cheesecake is a bit too orange for my personal preference in its presentation. What do y'all think?
No comments:
Post a Comment