Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made this pumpkin cheesecake recipe a couple of weeks ago, and it was divine. It was actually really easy for a cheesecake, even though it looks long and involved. So you should definitely try it!


Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe
This makes 1 springform pan or 2 nine-inch deep dish pies

Ingredients and Equipment
3 cups of fresh cooked pumpkin OR one can of commercial canned pumpkin (about 12
ounces total)
2 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
2 cup sugar (or 2 cups Splenda; or 1 cup of each)
A graham cracker pie crust in a springform cheesecake pan or in two 9-inch deep-dish pie plates, unbaked (make your own crust, easy and much better than store bought)
dash salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger*
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg* (or substitute 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice for these spices)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 eggs or Egg Beaters
2 cups evaporated milk (I use fat-free)


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. Make a graham cracker crust in one springform
cheesecake pan OR in two 9 inch deep pie dishes or use a purchased deep
dish graham cracker crust)

Graham Cracker Crust:
1.5 cups of crushed Graham Crackers (one sleeve)
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/8 cup water

Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Crush the Graham Crackers.
Put them in a plastic bag and roll over it with a rolling pin, or the bottom of a large heavy jar. Crush away until they are just crumbs!.
Step 2 - Melt the butter
Step 3 - Add the melted butter and water
Mix the crumbs, butter and water. Stir it up!
Step 4 - Press the mixture into the pie plate

Try to make it about 1/8 inch (1/3 cm) evenly all around. The crumbs should stick pretty well, without being wet. If they won't stick where you press them, just add another tablespoon of water to the mix.


Cream Cheese Layer:
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the 2 packages of cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract - mix well! (I used the fat free cream
cheese and it tasted GREAT, even my massive, junk-food junkie friends raved about it)
4. Beat in 4 eggs; (either beat them separately, or directly with the other ingredients). Again, I used Egg Beaters and they worked great and tasted great!
5. Pour the mixture in the pie crust.

Pumpkin Layer:
6. In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin, 1 cup of sugar, a
dash of salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4
teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2teaspoon ground
nutmeg (or, instead of these spices, separately; just
3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice).
7. Lightly beat 4 eggs(or use egg substitutes, like Egg Beaters or
Better ’N Eggs) and blend them in.
8. Mix in the 2 cups of evaporated milk.
9. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the cream cheese
layer that is already in the pie crust. Don’t stir it in,
nor worry about floating it on top. Just gently pour it
in. As it cooks, it will settle out just right!
10. Bake the pumpkin pie in
the oven at 350° for about
70 minutes; possibly another 10 minutes(until
it has firmed up). The cream cheese layer will
bubble up to the surface some; that's fine; it
gives it the characteristic appearance.
11.Cool the pumpkin pie and refrigerate it! It won't
really firm upunless you refrigerate it (it IS a
cheesecake!). It will take a while–overnight is best,
but at least a few hours.
It's great with a little whipped cream, I also used carmel sauce which was delish!