It's Not Even Daylight Savings Time Yet; There's Plenty of Fall Left for Pumpkin Cheesecake

There has definitely been a slowdown in the kitchen as my daily thesis schedule expands, but this weekend we had a family event to bring a dessert to. So, we decided to challenge ourselves and embark on the wonderful world of cheesecake. This fall, I am of the mindset that you just can't have enough pumpkin. After all, we haven't even hit daylight savings time, let alone Thanksgiving.

We used the Kraft recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake because it seemed appropriate to learn from the cream cheese experts. As usual, I made several adjustments to the recipe. But to start, we didn't even own a spring-form pan; yet, after a "quick" stop at Marshalls, we were in business. 

So the baking got started around 10:00 PM, not recommended for future cheesecake endeavors.  But, nonetheless we forged on. While the cream cheese softened, I crushed gingersnaps and chopped pecans for the crust. I added brown sugar to the butter and crumb mixture to add some candied taste to the base. I do recommend building the crust upwards of an inch so that it will be thick and easy to slice.

The cheese mixture needs to have a smooth consistency without lumps. I wish I had given the batter a few more minutes on a low mixing speed. With a thinner batter I could have poured it without a spatula and potentially minimized cracks in the baked final product. The cake heads into oven for about an hour and a half, luckily I had Law & Order SVU to keep me company. Finish up after 12:00 AM, I left the cake out to cool until morning.

I advocate for mixing desserts, so I decided to decorate the cheesecake with sugar cookies. Somehow, our household also does not have a rolling pin. We use a clean wine bottle to roll dough. It does the trick and you can throw it into the dishwasher. I also topped the cake with candied pecans. Michael's reaction to the candied pecans…"you can make these at home!?" The carnival fairies graced our kitchen with butter and sugar caramelized over the pecans on medium heat for about ten minutes. The cheesecake was finished off with a sprinkle of a confectioners' sugar and cinnamon mix.

Ingredients

• NABISCO Ginger Snaps, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup  finely chopped PLANTERS Pecans
• 1/4 cup  butter or margarine, melted
• 4 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup  sugar
• 1 can  (15 oz.) pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp.  pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp.  vanilla
• 4 eggs
  

Directions

1. HEAT oven to 325°F.
2. MIX crumbs, nuts and butter; press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan.
3. BEAT cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour into crust.
4. BAKE 1 hour 20 min. to 1 hour 30 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours.
   

Among the craziness of work and thesis, I take great pride in getting things done around the house. Last weekend I got to spend Saturday morning with a great friend enjoying the Philadelphia Flea Market. Of course, I picked up a few household items, but was excited to find a new way to display fall gourds. The cigar box is not really old, but has a great warmth to it and looks like a treasure box. I look forward to filling it with Christmas treasures in a few months.

I also spent about a half an hour cleaning up our pantry. That was all the time it really took and we had been rummaging through that mess for months. Why do we do that!? But, I feel such a great sense of accomplishment for completing that one item on my list. So, I will leave you with this advice: hold onto a list of things to do around the house that you can get done in less than a few hours. Fill any evening or weekend mornings tackling those small tasks and celebrate each one you accomplish. Getting these tasks done will boost your energy in working on business projects.