Our forever favorite pumpkin cheesecake boasts a thick gingersnap crust and a lightly spiced, super creamy pumpkin filling.
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00:00 Hey everyone, it's Tia in the Delish Kitchen
00:02 and I'm gonna show you how to make pumpkin cheesecake.
00:05 Pumpkin cheesecake is kind of the prima donna
00:07 of Thanksgiving desserts in my mind.
00:10 Often we top it with everything from whipped cream
00:12 to nuts to caramel sauce, but right now,
00:15 I'm gonna take it back to the very bare bones
00:17 and just show you how to make the most amazing
00:20 straight up pumpkin-y pumpkin cheesecake.
00:24 Let's get started.
00:25 We're gonna start with our crust.
00:27 Now, for pumpkin cheesecake, I love a ginger snap crust.
00:30 When I was developing this recipe,
00:32 I actually did a side-by-side graham cracker
00:35 and ginger snap crust and there was no comparison.
00:38 The spiciness of the ginger snaps just played off
00:41 of the lightly spiced pumpkin filling so well.
00:44 For this crust, I recommend a thin, crunchy ginger cookie,
00:48 something like this brand.
00:50 I love Anna's Swedish Thins
00:52 and I highly recommend if you can find them.
00:54 Do not get the thick and chewy molasses cookies.
00:57 Not a good choice for this specific application.
01:00 To the food processor, we are going to add our ginger snaps,
01:04 our light brown sugar, and our kosher salt.
01:07 We're gonna whiz that until it is fully incorporated
01:10 and everything is in fine, fine crumbs.
01:13 And then we're gonna stream in our melted butter
01:15 and whiz that until the mixture looks like wet sand.
01:19 Our crust crumbs are ready to go into our pan.
01:23 For a cheesecake, you're gonna wanna use a springform pan.
01:27 So this is a nine inch with a nice little release.
01:30 Comes off the base like that.
01:32 This is the only kind of pan to use for a cheesecake.
01:36 Cheesecakes are so delicate
01:38 that if you don't have a pan like this
01:39 where the sides just pull away,
01:41 you will never get it out, ever.
01:43 So even if you don't usually bake with one of these,
01:47 get it for this reason.
01:48 We're gonna pour our crust mixture
01:52 into our lightly greased pan,
01:54 and then we're gonna take a little measuring cup
01:56 and use the bottom of it, that flat side,
01:58 to press the crust into place on the bottom
02:01 and up the sides.
02:02 This press-in part is challenging,
02:05 even to the most experienced.
02:06 It's the kind of thing
02:07 that you just have to take your time with.
02:09 And depending on how much time you take,
02:11 you're gonna get a crust that's either rustically beautiful
02:14 or pristinely beautiful.
02:16 Up to you.
02:17 We're gonna blind bake this crust.
02:19 Not all cheesecake recipes call for blind baking the crust.
02:23 I like to blind bake the crust
02:25 because number one, it makes it more sturdy,
02:27 and number two, the blind baking toasts the milk solids
02:31 in the butter in the crust,
02:33 and it makes it caramelized and nutty
02:35 and just adds this other dimension of flavor.
02:38 We're gonna bake this at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes,
02:41 or until it smells nice and toasty.
02:44 It's time to make our filling.
02:46 Into the mixer goes our light brown sugar,
02:49 cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
02:54 We're gonna mix just until combined.
02:57 And then we're gonna add our softened cream cheese
03:01 and beat until it is super smooth.
03:04 You wanna make sure that your cream cheese and sugar
03:08 is really smooth before you add your eggs.
03:11 This is key because if there are any lumps
03:13 when you add your eggs,
03:15 there will be lumps in your filling.
03:16 It's not gonna smooth out after the eggs go in.
03:19 So just keep that in mind.
03:20 We're gonna add the eggs one at a time,
03:23 beating on low between each, just until it's combined.
03:26 With a cheesecake, you don't wanna be beating the eggs
03:29 to aerate them.
03:30 There are some cakes where you do want the air in the eggs
03:33 to give the cake a lift.
03:35 This is not one of those.
03:37 If you over aerate the eggs,
03:39 your cheesecake is gonna puff too much and then collapse.
03:43 Not what you want.
03:44 As soon as our eggs are incorporated,
03:45 we're ready to go in with the pumpkin.
03:47 We're also going to add our vanilla.
03:49 Now, here's the thing about pumpkin.
03:52 Different brands have different levels of moisture.
03:55 Cheesecake is something that is very sensitive
03:59 to the amount of moisture.
04:00 So for this recipe, I recommend using Libby's only.
04:05 We are going to bake our cheesecake in a water bath.
04:08 Now, why do we bake in a water bath?
04:11 Well, number one, a water bath is going to ensure
04:14 a more gentle and even cooking process for the cheesecakes.
04:19 Cheesecakes are delicate and they can tend to crack.
04:21 So it's important to regulate the temperature,
04:24 both while they're baking
04:25 and after they come out and are cooling.
04:28 So we have our crust that's pre-baked here.
04:30 Because springform pans aren't airtight,
04:33 we are going to use a double layer of foil
04:36 wrapped up and around it to ensure that no water gets in
04:40 and spoils our crust.
04:42 We're then going to fill the cheesecake pan
04:45 with our cheesecake mixture,
04:47 put that cheesecake pan in the roasting tin,
04:50 and fill the roasting tin
04:52 halfway to the top of the cheesecake pan
04:55 with hot boiling water,
04:58 right before we put it in the oven.
05:00 We're going to bake this at 325 for 85 to 105 minutes
05:05 or until it's set on the outside
05:07 and still wobbly in the center.
05:11 Now that it's done baking,
05:13 we are going to let it sit in the water bath and cool
05:16 for about an hour.
05:17 And then we're going to take it out of the water bath,
05:19 unwrap it from the foil,
05:21 and stick the whole springform pan into the fridge
05:23 to cool completely.
05:25 Overnight is best.
05:27 Once this cheesecake is totally chilled,
05:29 you can take off that springform pan collar,
05:32 get it out, slice it up, serve it chilled.
05:36 Always chilled, it's best cold.
05:41 Mm, it's super light and fluffy and creamy
05:44 without being too dense.
05:46 You really get those spices that we took the time
05:50 to like measure out,
05:51 like all of the cinnamon and the ginger
05:53 and the nutmeg and the cloves.
05:54 You get all of that really supporting the pumpkin
05:57 because we baked it in the water bath
05:59 and then let it sit out and chill out and cool slowly.
06:03 The texture of the inside is incredibly soft and tender
06:08 with this beautiful orangey filling
06:10 and that richer brown crust.
06:13 It is the perfect centerpiece to your fall dessert table.
06:17 For this and other fall baking recipes,
06:19 stick around here on delish.com.
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