Pumpkin cheesecake (swirled)




Pumpkin cheesecake

 I am on a baking spree! Maybe its the uncertainty of 2015, or being away from home this Xmass.. (Can you believe? the ONE year I don't fly 7'500 km to be home they have a 10 year highschool reunion!! How unfair Lol ..no 'nerd outcast rebirth' for me xD oh well, maybe in d 15 year reunion then Lol)

This cheesecake was so sunctuous and delicious that it barely survived 5 minutes in d office!!

It ranked top #1 (along with d carrot cake)!! so it is definitely a winner!

*Disclaimer: my cheesecake cracked a bit, so I have included some detailed steps to avoid craking :) 

Preparing base ingredients

Ingredients: 

Crust:

- 225 gr Speculoos cookies (powdered)

- 75 gr Pecan (powdered)

- 60 gr Butter (melted)

Cheesecake filling:

- 680 gr Philadelphia cheese (room temperature)

- 200 gr White sugar (caster)

- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch (or AP flour)

- 2 tsp Vanilla extract

- 4 Eggs (large; whole)

- 215 gr Pumpkin puree

- 2 tsp Cinammon (powder)

- 1 tsp Nutmeg (powder)

Butter a 9 or 10 inch round pan (all inside).

Pre-heat oven to 170 C (top & bottom), place a rack in the middle.


Making the cookie/pecan base

 To make the crust, in a blender powder the cookies & pecan together. 

Melt the butter in the microwave.



Then mix butter & cookie powder well together, and introduce into the greased baking pan. Press onto the bottom (and a little on d sides), and place into the oven to bake fo 6 minutes.



Once the 6 minutes are over remove from the oven and let cool down to room temperature (or place in the fridge to cool - of course over a heat-proof surface).

In the meantime, you can prepare the cheesecake filling:



Making d plain cheesecake



In a large bowl, place the Philadelphia cheese (room temperature!), white sugar, cornstarch and vanilla extract. Beat together until well creamed (2-3 min).

NOW, add the eggs and incorporate well with the lowest amount of beating/mixing possible.

The more you beat it, the more chances that your cheesecake will crack!!

Once it is well mixed, place 200-220 gr of the mix into a smaller bowl. To the small bowl, add the cinnamon, nutmeg and 215 gr of Pumpkin puree. AGAIN, incorporate with minimal amount of beating/mixing.



Split cheesecake, prepare pumpkin cheesecake mix



Remove the cold cookie crust from the fridge, and place half of the pumpkin mix onto the mold. Then, place the entire (plain) cheesecake mix on top. With a knife, swirl around a bit (without cutting into your cookie base).



Then, add the remaining pumpkin mix in spoonfuls over the top; and swirl with a knife. (See the picture for the swirling outcome).

Now you are ready to bake!

*So about craking:



A cheesecake cracks when the center reaches 65 Celsius.

The best way to bake the cheesecake is to do it "Bain Marie" (a.k.a. in a water bath). Unfortunately as you see I do not have a large enough pan to contain my 9 inch cake-pan.. Also if you line the tin with foil it will aid the no-cracking.




Filling pan by layering, and swirling

 

While baking do NOT open the oven.

So, after all that disclaimer :) ,, place the cake in the center of your middle oven rack, and bake for 55-60 min.

Once done, remove from the oven, wait a couple of minutes & pass a thin knife along the borders of the pan (to make sure it doesn't stick & crack while cooling down). Then, cover (not too tightly) with foil to let it cool down to room temperature.

Once at room temperature, place into the fridge and let refridgerate for a couple of hours.



After it refridgerated you can remove from the pan and serve as desired :)

.. a nice way would be with some Dulce de Leche drizzle & whipped cream :D


Pumpkin cheesecake - longside cut

 

Pumpkin cheesecake (slightly craked..)