Tribute to Fall: Pumpkin Cheesecake

Cheesecakes are one of those desserts that, to me, feel like they take a lot of skill, time, love and finger crossing to get right.  We never made them growing up, and after marrying my husband, I saw that they held a cheesecake recipe very dear in their family.  My husband's grandmother would actually make tons of these cheesecake around the holidays and give my husband one (an ENTIRE one) all to himself usually on Christmas.  So of course, this only furthered my distrust of the cheesecake world, and I just didn't think it would be something I would ever really want to do.  Then?  My husband got the recipe from his grandma and actually made the famous cheesecake himself for Thanksgiving last year!  HE MADE IT.  FROM SCRATCH. It is safe to say that I lowered my awe of cheesecakes a bit after that.  My husband has always been good at following recipes, but seriously, if he could make a cheesecake that turned out just as delicious and beautiful as grandma's, then I could definitely handle one!  So, as my last kick of fall flavor for this year, I decided to have a go at a pumpkin cheesecake in honor of my husband's birthday.  (It seriously turned out great!!)

Crust it up:
Go ahead and buy a store graham cracker crust if you want, but I wanted to make mine.  If I was going to do a cheesecake, I was going to do it right!
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tsps cinnamon
1 stick of butter
-Process that all together (food processor love) and then press into the bottom of a 9 or 10in springform pan 


Fill it up:
This recipe has the 'double layer' look, but if you don't feel that brave, or you feel too lazy, skip the 'white' layer and just mix everything together and add to your crust... It won't be as pretty but it is essentially the exact same cheescake. 

Add two 8oz packages of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla to your stand mixer (or your trusty ol' bowl with a hand mixer) and mix until very well combined.  Then add two eggs, one at a time until they are completed mixed it as well. This is the point that you can scoop out about 1 cup of the batter at spread in an even layer on your crust, or just ignore that if you don't feel like it.  

Continuing on: add 3/4 cup pureed pumpkin, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, a pinch of freshly grated cloves and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  I buy most of my spices dried and prepared but these are two (especially the nutmeg) that I don't skimp on because their flavor is much better fresh.  Plus if they are pre-ground they lose flavor much faster than if they are whole.  Blend all of that together well and then add the pumpkin layer to your white layer carefully so they don't mix (or just pour it in your crust if you took the lazy route).  Spread it out evenly and bake at 325 for anywhere from 50 minutes to 75 minutes.  Basically you are looking for a cheesecake that only jiggles in the center when you take it out, so just keep checking it from minute 50 on.  

Serve with a dollop of sweetened, whipped cream or cool whip.  Pictured is cool whip because I took the lazy option!  Enjoy!