Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

When you find a truly amazing recipe, the second time you make it is filled with such anticipation. You wonder if that piece of heaven really was as good as you thought last time you made it. Maybe that first taste was colored by love-at-first-bite and you will be disappointed with your second attempt. You carefully follow the directions, trying to remember what worked well and what didn't the last time. You hover eagerly over the stove, waiting for the internal temperature of the cake to creep up to the perfect doneness. You agonize over taking it out of the oven, terrified of dropping it. And you doggedly wait and wait and wait for it to cool. Then there is the last breathtaking moment when your lips close around the fork and the creamy texture slides over your tongue. And you realize, yes.... yes, it is as good as you remembered.

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Cheesecake is an involved thing. And it takes a long time to prepare. I usually end up making this only once a year, in the fall. That being said, it tastes amazing. If you like to bake, this is a truly special recipe. 

Give yourself a long lead time when preparing this cake. I usually make it the day before so it can chill overnight. Expect 3 - 4 hours to prepare and bake it and then another 8 hours to fully chill it, about 12 hours all told. 

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

Makes one 9-inch cake

Crust

9 whole graham crackers (just plain or honey)
3 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
6 T. butter, melted

Filling:
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt

1  15 oz. can pumpkin puree
3  8 oz. packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 T. vanilla
1 T. lemon juice
5 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup heavy cream

First, before you start anything, make sure that you have set your eggs and cream cheese out to get to room temperature. It's very important, especially with the cream cheese. If your cream cheese is cold at all, it won't incorporate into the cheesecake well and you will get bits of cream cheese throughout your cake. Trust me. 

If you are in a hurry and you forget to set out your eggs and cream cheese (I never do that...ahem), then you can remove the cream cheese from its packaging and microwave it to warm it up. And you can place the eggs in a bowl of warm water. Just make sure the water isn't too hot. You don't want to cook them yet!

Then you are ready to make the crust.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Then crush the graham crackers. 

You can do this easily in the food processor or blender, 

or you can put the crackers in a baggie and crush them with a rolling pin.

Add the sugar and spices and toss together (or blend together, or process together).

Then stir in the melted butter.

The mixture should look like wet sand.

Press mixture into the bottom of a greased, 9 inch springform pan. 

I usually end up pressing with my hands 'cause they just work so much better than a spatula. 

(A springform pan is necessary for cheesecake. 

The side of the pan pops off when you are done cooking to reveal your beautiful cheesecake.)

Bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees, until fragrant. 

This crust smells (and tastes!) amazing with all those spices in there.

Set pan aside while you make the filling.

Mix the sugar, spices and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. 

Then there's a somewhat unusual step. The recipe I use contends that pumpkin out of the can is too wet for this recipe. They tell you to line a baking sheet with paper towels, dump the pumpkin on top, press down with another layer of paper towels and then repeat. This wastes too many paper towels for me and seems difficult, so I usually just heat my pumpkin in a small saucepan for 10-15 minutes, until it looks dry, stirring often. I then let it cool while I proceed with the recipe. 

You might be able to just dump the can in without doing anything and your cheesecake will be great, but I've never done this... 

Okay, then you're ready to actually make the filling. 

Dump the room temperature cream cheese into the bowl of your standing mixer and mix on medium high for about a minute until the cream cheese is perfectly smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

(It's important to scrape the sides of the bowl after each step to ensure that you aren't getting chunks of cream cheese or pumpkin or spices littered throughout your cake. Or, you can use one of those handy-dandy beater blades that scrape the bowl for you.)

Then add the sugar mixture that you set aside earlier in three parts. 

So, add a third of the sugar, mix for a minute and then scrape the sides of the bowl.

Repeat two more times. 

Add pumpkin, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat for about a minute until combined. 

Then scrape the sides of the bowl again.

It'll look like this.

Add the eggs in two additions. 

First, add three of the eggs and beat for a minute until combined. Scrape the bowl.

Then add the last two eggs and beat for a minute until combined. Scrape the bowl.

For the final step, add the cream, beat until combined. 

Then give the mixture a final stir by hand to make sure everything is incorporated well.

Then you are ready for the baking process. Cheesecakes come out best when you use a water bath.

Wrap your pan in two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Make sure to get foil that is wide enough to cover the pan bottom and sides or your foil might leak. 

Also, boil a tea kettle full of water and make sure your oven is preheated to 325 degrees.

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. 

Set the cheesecake inside a large roasting pan.

Set the roasting pan inside the oven and then pour the boiling water into the roasting pan. This is much easier to pouring the water into the pan and then trying to move it into the oven!

Pour in enough water to come about halfway up the sides of the pan. Be careful not to spill any water into the cheesecake!

(A water bath really is necessary for great cheesecake. It creates a moist environment in your oven, creating a gentler cook time for your cake and helping to keep the top from splitting.)

Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees until cheesecake registers 150 degrees. Slide the thermometer in horizontally so that the probe reaches the middle of the cake. Start checking the cheesecake at 1 1/4 hours so that you don't overbake. 

(An instant-read thermometer is really helpful when baking a cheesecake. My cake reached 150 degrees right at the 1 1/2 hour mark, but all ovens are different so a thermometer can be really helpful.)

When cheesecake reaches 150 degrees in the center, carefully remove the roasting pan and set it on a wire rack. 

Run a paring knife, carefully, around the outer edge of the cake. This releases the cakes from the sides of the pan so that the top doesn't split as it cools.

Leave the cake inside the water bath for 45 minutes, until cake is mostly cool.

Then remove the pan from the water bath, remove the foil and finish cooling on the counter, about 3 hours. 

Then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, or up to 3 days. 

When ready to serve, carefully run a butter knife around the edge of the pan, release the sides of the pan and transfer the cake to a platter. 

This recipe is from Baking Illustrated.