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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Pumpkin Cheesecake

We have a new holiday favorite in our house. I made a pumpkin pie, and my daughter made a pumpkin cheesecake. I'm afraid that the pie tasted rather ordinary in comparison to the cheesecake. I think we have a new holiday dessert.  This was a New York-style cheesecake, tall, dense, and very decadent. A nine-inch New York cheesecake makes about 16 servings, so this is also a great dessert for a large gathering. Sorry, no photos as we ate the whole thing!

Cheesecake tips --

  • New York cheesecake recipes often call for a water bath. A water bath helps the cheesecake bake evenly, which minimizes cracking. Wrap the springform pan in foil before filling, then set in water bath for baking. The foil prevents water from seeping through to the cake when baking in a springform pan placed in water.
  • If you bake until all but the very center 2 inches are firm, but center is still a tiny bit jiggly, the cake will continue setting as it cools. Shut off the oven, crack the door open, and allow the cheesecake to sit in the cooling oven for 30 minutes. The texture will even and it will be creamy throughout.
  • To prevent lumps, use room temp cream cheese, not cold.
  • Allow to cool before removing the springform ring. Run a knife all around, then undo the latch on the side of pan.
  • Cheesecakes freeze well, if ungarnished. Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge, then bring to room temp (70 degrees F) for 30 minutes before serving.
  • Cream cheese goes on sale in November and December. You can freeze cream cheese, then use for baking cheesecake later in the year. For this cake, we used cream cheese that had been in the freezer for over a year. Still creamy and delicious.

8 comments:

  1. I love cheesecake. And a little goes a long way since it is so rich. Good tips on baking one.

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  2. We love plain cheesecake in our home. I tried it with lemon zest and it was too much. We also have done a cheesecake in the pressure cooker which is really just a moist heat like a water bath would be. It works wonderfully well. I get a small cheesecake but I'm OK with that. I might have to try a pumpkin cheesecake since we all like pumpkin.

    Alice

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  3. Hi, Lili--
    Great tips, and there's nothing as rich as a good cheesecake. Kudos to your daughter!
    Interesting that you folks thought that the pumpkin pie paled by comparison. I remember back in the 70s, my mom tried a pumpkin cheesecake, since our family loves both flavors. We thought it was yummy, but since her normal pumpkin pie was very spicy, by comparison, the pumpkin cheesecake seemed blander, though more filling. We always felt the same way about pumpkin chiffon pie, which is delicious, but never seemed very "pumpkiny" or spicy to us. That's why you have to try something new every once in a while to see what you like best! So happy your family loved this new treat! :)
    The other day I saw a recipe for a pecan pumpkin pie that seemed like another interesting holiday "combo" pie -- the spiciness of the plain pumpkin pie with the sweet/nutty of pecan pie (which I love, but can only eat a tiny sliver of at a time, it's so sweet!) I was thinking about giving that a try sometime.
    Have a good week, Lili! Sara

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  4. We love cheesecake here, any kind will do, but the pumpkin sounds delicious. Hope you are doing well, Lili. :)

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  5. I think I'd rather have someone make the cheesecake for me! ;)

    My MIL made her usual cheesecake for our "Christmas" celebration last Friday. It's not as complicated as a NY cheesecake--no springform pan or water bath--and I have pulled it off before. You use a pre-made chocolate crust; it has a layer of raspberries, the cheesecake, and a chocolate ganache top layer. Since it isn't as thick, it isn't *quite* as decadent as a New York style. Pretty yummy.

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  6. How yummy we had a cheese cake at my sisters, lots of people topped it with a sliver of cherry pie. It was plain but rich and creamy. I set mine down to help clean the kitchen after a few bites and someone threw it away :( That will teach me to help with the dishes. I hope your The Thanksgiving was wonderful.
    Blessings,
    Patti

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  7. Pumpkin cheesecake is my favorite. I love NY style best, but this year we tried a “baked one” that was super easy and it was quite good. I needed the time savings and ease of making it this way. We took it to our family dinner and it was a hit. I shared the recipe on my blog, but I cannot figure out how to link it to here.

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  8. I was surprised that we would like the pumpkin cheesecake as much as we did. I usually do a chocolate-y dessert for Christmas, but I'm now rethinking that and may have my daughter bake us another pumpkin cheesecake in December. So delicious, I'm still thinking about it.

    ReplyDelete

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