Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
Have you ever had to choose between a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake?
It happens sometimes, especially around the holidays, when you have to face the impossible task of winnowing your dessert choices. It’s heartbreaking, really. And I find it most especially heartbreaking around Thanksgiving, which offers an abundance of dessert choices. Do you want pie? Cool. Will that be apple or pumpkin or something else? Do you want cake with that? How about a cheesecake or a trifle?
It’s all so much to choose from! Choosing all of the above options will surely make you miserable. But! It doesn’t have to be that hard. Some people like to pretend otherwise, but I think we all know that Thanksgiving is THE pumpkin day, where all other choices are just stand-ins. It’s just not Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie.
I will admit though, even as someone who eats leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast on Black Friday, pumpkin pie can seem kind of boring, especially when putting it up against flashy cakes or dramatic deep-dish apple pies or that interloper pumpkin cheesecake. It’s just so…humble. Basic crust, plain whipped cream topping (if any), and filling that bakes into the color of the saddest, brownest leaves that always seem to fall last off the tree. Pumpkin pie is not a pretty dessert.
HOWEVER.
I think I’ve stumbled on the solution for a lot of the above. Too many desserts? Combine them! Basic & boring? Layer flavors! Ugly color? Add contrast!
All of that can be done with this simple pumpkin pie cheesecake. And no, I don’t mean “pumpkin cheesecake,” I mean “pumpkin pie cheesecake.” Because this tastes like a pumpkin pie dipping its toe into the cheesecake waters. The texture remains closer to a pumpkin pie, but it bakes up with the tartness of a cheesecake and a sour cream topping to boot.
We have flavor!
We have color contrast!
We have a pie and a cheesecake!
Plus, we have a ginger cookie crust because that is the correct choice here. Is that almost like three desserts? We are nailing this!
Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
For the crust:
2 cups ginger snaps, crushed into fine crumbs
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs flour
3 tbs butter, melted
For the filling:
1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
For the topping:
12 oz sour cream
2 tbs sugar
2-3 ginger snaps, crushed
Make the crust: In a bowl, combine crushed ginger snaps, cinnamon, ginger, flour and melted butter and stir to fully coat the crumbs. You want the mixture to be pretty damp but not wet. Add a little flour if it seems too wet. Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan, and chill until you are ready to bake.
Preheat your oven to 350 and make the filling: In a small pot, combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, salt and spices. Stir to combine, then cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture darkens and thickens, about 45 minutes. The mixture will be very dark and smooth at this point, like apple butter.
Scrape the pumpkin mixture into a bowl to cool. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixture, place your cream cheese and beat with paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cooled pumpkin mixture and beat to fully combine, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, scraping down the bowl as needed to fully incorporated the cream cheese with the pumpkin mixture.
Scrape the filling mixture into the prepared pan on top of the crust and smooth the top a bit. Place the pan on top of a baking sheet and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the cheesecake is set but still a little wobbly in the middle.
Remove cheesecake from oven and increase the temperature to 450 degrees. Combine the sour cream and 1 1/2 tbs sugar and stir to fully mix, then spoon and spread atop the baked cheesecake. Return to the oven and bake 7 minutes to set.
Remove from oven and cool completely. Chill and serve, topped with more crushed ginger cookies.