Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

This recipe is adapted from one I found at Allrecipes.com.  Did you know that the old fashioned way to cook a pumpkin is to put it in the oven?  Just rinse it, and put it in the oven, about 350 for an hour or so.  This is also a good way to cook squash.  No fussing over cutting... and this method gives no worries about some of the pumpkin being too done while other parts remain uncooked.  In about an hour, go back and turn it off.  Leave it there.  Let it cool for an hour or half a day.

You can make your own pumpkin puree, and it will taste fresher and more pumpkin-y than canned pumpkin (although the latter is really convenient and less messy).   I use a TV tray for cleaning pumpkin, because it might be too messy for a regular cutting board.  Just slice it into fourths, and use a spoon to scoop away the seeds and strings.  Then pare the skin off easily with a knife.  Cut into chunks.  If you have a food processor, you can whiz it, but don't add liquid.  Another way to puree the pulp is in a mixer for a long time. 

Gingersnap Crust:
Crush and whiz (in a food processor or blender) 1/2 cups of gingersnaps and 1 cup of graham crackers.  You want a fine mix, and I sift mine thru a sifter, because the gingersnaps sometimes don't chop up.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/2 to 3/4 of a stick of butter.  I like to put my butter in the microwave for 15 seconds because I rarely have it at room temp when I begin.  This, you press into the bottom of a springform pan.  I don't have a springform pan, so I use a square 9x9 pyrex glass baking dish, a round custard dish or a 9x14 glass pan.  Just put it back in the fridge till you add the filling, and it can be hardening.

Mix 16 oz of cream cheese till creamy, and add 1/3 cup of brown sugar.  Here's where my recipe is a jazzed-up version of the online classic:  While my cream cheese is getting fluffy, I use authentic whole spices that I grind, crush or grate, myself.  I just put those on top of  the pumpkin puree that I will be adding.

I use about a teaspoon of cloves, taking just the buttons off of the top.  (Toss the 'forks' into your simmering potpourri, as they are tough.)  I crush them on an old Cherokee grinding rock using a round Cherokee stone that I found in the woods.  You could use a bowl and pestle. 

I use about a tablespoon of cinnamon that I got when travelling in the Carribean.  If you go South, don't miss a chance to visit a grocery store or town marketplace somewhere like Montego Bay.  You can get amazing fresh spices, whole, and they'll keep for a year or more if you don't refigerate them and leave them whole till ready for use. 

I crushed a fourth of a nutmeg.  That would be about 1/2 teaspoon.

I used fresh ginger root, grating it on a grater... about a tablespoon and that is a lot.

Add a cup of pumpkin puree and these spices, scraping down your bowl edges to incorporate all the cream cheese.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Or, you could also use a spoon of Frangelico at this step instead.

You'll get a creamy mix, richer than pumplin pie mix.  Gently pour it into the crust, and pop that into the oven.  Turn the oven to 350.  Add a big pot of water to the bottom to keep your cheesecake moist and avoid cracking.  Cook for 30 minutes or until the edges are puffy and the middle still jiggles.

There's a trick here:  You want to keep your oven steamy, so don't be opening and closing the door a lot.  Treat it like a souffle.

After 30 minutes, turn the heat down to 325, and set the timer for 15 minutes.  Make this topping:

1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Frangelico

You can use Vanilla if you don't happen to have Frangelico.  (Frangelico comes from the liquor store and some people use it as a coffee flavoring.  It is rather expensive, and has a flavor of hazelnut and berries.)

When your topping is made, gently take the cheesecake out of the oven and pour this evenly over the top.  Avoid moving it around with a spoon if you can, so it won't break into the cake which is still cooking.  Then put it back in the oven, turn off the oven at the end of the timer above, and just leave it there for an hour, in the oven, still cooking but at an ever-lower temp.  After an hour you can take it out, insert a knife around the edges so it will shrink without splitting, and put it back into the cooling oven until both oven and cake are at room temp.

Now, for the hard part.  Cover it with foil and stick it in the oven to chill and set up overnight.  Next day, Eat It.

This is a great upscale recipe for holiday visits, but the cream cheese makes it dangerously rich and fattening.    Once in a while, it won't hurt ya.  Enjoy!  And do post any variations that you try.