Pumpkin Cheesecake, freshly baked.

This story begins with a cheesecake and ends with a “dog story”.  It may not make sense at the start, but it will by the end, so hang in here with me.

One of my contributions to our Thanksgiving Dinner was a pumpkin cheesecake.  I brought it plus my Sweet Potato Casserole and Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce to my sister-in-law’s house for our family dinner.  Having made these last two items in advance, last Wednesday I made the Pumpkin Cheesecake.

The project began in the morning when I took two blocks of cream cheese out of the fridge to soften up while I did some other things.  By afternoon I was ready to begin putting the cheesecake together.   It is very easy to make and I chose this recipe because it has garnered so many “stars” by recipe testers on Allrecipe.com.  Think of it as an all-star recipe, even award-winning, you might say.

Folks who made it said it tasted just like the cheesecake at a very popular restaurant.  It cut cleanly and looked attractive on the plate because the cheesecake goes into the crust in two layers, and when it’s cut the layers are very apparent.  It was described as perfectly seasoned with the spiciness of pumpkin pie, but so much more creamy, because of the contrast of the crumb crust.

As I happily went about making what sounded so delectable, my mouth was watering.  I had described it in such detail to my sister-in-law that her mouth was watering just hearing about it, and she really loves cheesecake, so we two couldn’t wait for dessert.  I don’t want my wonderful readers to miss out on enjoying  this terrific cheesecake so the recipe, and steps I followed in making it are listed below…..

DOUBLE-LAYER PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Yield:   Makes one 9-inch cheesecake, or 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2  (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (low-fat is OK)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1  (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 pinch cloves
• frozen whipped topping, thawed, or whipped cream to dollop on top.

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325*F.

2.  In a large beater bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth.  Blend in eggs, one at a time.

3.  Spread 1 cup of cream cheese mixture in the bottom of the crumb crust.

Plain cheesecake batter goes in the bottom of the crust.

To the remaining batter, add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.   Stir gently until well blended.  Carefully spread over batter in the crust.

The remainder of the batter containing pumpkin and spices goes on top.

4.  Bake at 325*F. for 35 – 40 minutes, until center is almost set.  Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate at least 3 hours and best if overnight.  (Make this a day ahead if you can, because it really needs that much time to set up properly.  It will slice beautifully after a night in the fridge.)

Pumpkin Cheesecake, freshly baked.

At the completion of our main meal we eagerly went outside to get the pies where they had been stored in the cold, as there was no room in the refrigerator.  We had a total of 4 pies and my cheesecake.  When we went out to the get the pies we found only 3 pies and 2 empty pie plates,  plus 1 very guilty-looking dog.   Who let the dog out, that’s what we’d like to know?    The dog devoured what we ourselves couldn’t wait to try:  the cheesecake and an apple-walnut-caramel pie.  The whole scenario was so funny with poor Sandy sitting next to the empty pie plates, hanging her head in shame, but with a secret smile on her face, and a few crumbs on her whiskers.  She would  give them 5 stars if she could 🙂

Sandy, after her pie-eating escapade.

I  promised to make the cheesecake again for Christmas, so we will try again to see for ourselves how good it is.

SOURCE:    Allrecipes Magazine