Recipe: Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake

the appetizer:

Master the art of making cheesecake in The Cheesecake Bible by George Geary, including recipes like German Chocolate Cheesecake; Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake; and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheese Bars.

I Love Desserts

Maple Pumpkin
Cheesecake

Serves 18 to 20

Two fall flavors that go well together are maple and pumpkin.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
10-inch (25 cm) cheesecake pan,
ungreased, or springform pan with
3-inch (7.5 cm) sides, greased

Crust

2-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (625 mL)
1 tsp ground ginger (5 mL)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (75 mL)

Filling

5 packages (each 8 oz/250 g) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream (250 mL)
2-1/4 cups granulated sugar (550 mL)
6 eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée (not pie filling) (250 mL)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (125 mL)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (125 mL)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (15 mL)
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (2 mL)
1/4 tsp ground allspice (1 mL)
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (45 mL)
1 tbsp vanilla extract (15 mL)

Decoration

Classic Whipped Cream Topping (see recipe, page 262 of the book)

1. Crust: In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, ginger and butter. Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.

2. Filling: In a mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar on medium-high speed until very smooth, for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Fold in pumpkin, flour, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, lemon juice and vanilla by hand.

3. Pour over frozen crust, smoothing out to sides of pan. Bake in preheated oven until top is light brown and center has a slight jiggle to it, 60 to 75 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before decorating or serving.

4. Decoration: Ice top of cake with Classic Whipped Cream Topping or pipe a ribbon around border, if desired.