Pecan Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

Last year, I was asked if  I made pumpkin cheesecakes. Cheescakes were not really a specialty of mine. And I didn't really eat cheesecakes too often, so I said I didn't. But I promised to try to make it this year. Well, I'm always good on my word, so I made it a mission of mine to look for theee best Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe and I think I've found it from I am Baker. This is her version of the Cheesecake Factory's Pumpkin Cheesecake. However, I decided to switch it up and make a ginger snap and pecan crust, which I think took this recipe over the top.

Baking a cheesecake is pretty tricky. Bake it too long and you'll end up with cracks in the middle of your cheesecake. So I searched for different tricks on how to bake it and I toyed with different baking methods using straight baking and water-bath baking. Although I really liked the texture and appearance of the cheesecake after water-bath baking, I often ended up with a soggy crust due to the water seeping into the springform baking pan. Straight baking made the outer edges of the cheesecake look darker, but they always came out consistent. So its all in your preference. There is also a lot of cooling time for cheesecake. Properly cooling it will help prevent the cracks from forming.

There is a lot of work and effort into baking a cheesecake but there is no doubt that it will be delicious. The caramel sauce totally makes this cheesecake decadent. This definitely made me a pumpkin cheesecake lover. But only MY pumpkin cheesecake. lol. Hubby took one bite and I had him in the palm of my hand. He was definitely proud of this dessert of mine. I had him take some to work and I immediately had some people order for their Thanksgiving celebrations. This will definitely be made frequently in our household.

Crust
32 pieces of ginger snap cookies
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted

1) Finely crush cookies in a food processor. Mix in butter, sugar and chopped pecans.

2) Generously grease a 9-inch springform pan or spray with a non-stick cooking spray. This is important to make sure your cheesecake releases nicely from the pan. Press the cookie mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.

Cheesecake
3 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
prepared whipped cream
caramel sauce

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

2) In an electric stand mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined.

3) Add pumpkin, eggs and pumpkin pie spice and continue beating until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

4) Pour filling into prepared pan.

5) Place in the oven (or place on a roasting pan filled with water and place in the oven). Bake for 50-55 minutes. The center should still be jiggly after baking time.

6) Turn the oven off (and remove from the roasting pan if you are water-bath baking). Allow the cheesecake to cool inside the oven with the oven door slightly ajar. This will cool the oven down and allow the cheesecake to cool slowly, which will help prevent the cheesecake from cracking. This may take a couple of hours.

7) Once the oven has cooled down, remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to completely cool at room temperature.

8) Once the cheesecake has cooled to room temperature, refrigerate overnight. Top with prepared whipped cream and drizzle caramel sauce.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle

Now that Fall is in full swing, you all know how I like to stock up on pumpkins after visiting the pumpkin patch around Halloween every year. Around this time, I usually make my staple Pumpkin Spice Pancakes or Pumpkin Soup. And if I'm feeling a little bit more celebratory, I'll make my Pumpkin Dream Cake. This year, quite a few people have been ordering my Pumpkin Cake Roll. You'd think I'd be pumpkined out. But no. I still want to add to my pumpkin repertoire and searched for another pumpkin recipe. This time, I wanted to make cookies out of my pumpkin.

On Pinterest, many have posted recipes for Pumpkin Snickerdoodle. My daughter loves Snickerdoodles, so I decided to give this recipe a try from Center Cut Cook. These cookies came out soft, light and airy and more like a cake than a cookie. But it was delicious. I love the subtle flavor of pumpkin and all the spices in this cookie. And my daughters love these as well.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar (for topping)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (for topping)

1) In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs and mix well.

2) In a separate large bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Combine dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

3) Stir in pumpkin puree. Place dough in the freezer to chill for about 90 minutes.

4) When dough has chilled, pre heat oven to 350 deg F. Then in a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Set aside.

5) Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough to make a ball. Roll ball into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the edges begin to brown. The middle of the cookie will appear uncooked, which is okay.

6) Cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Dream Cake

I've noticed that I haven't done any new pumpkin recipes this fall. But I did stock up on some pureed pumpkin that I've roasted and pureed. Its sort of been my tradition every year ever since my older daughter was born - to buy loads of pumpkin around Halloween and then roast and puree them for later use. I use them to make my now famous Pumpkin Cake Roll that I make a ton of around the fall, as well as Pumpkin soup, and Pumpkin Spice Pancakes.

This year, I'm so excited to finally get a chance to make this Pumpkin Dream Cake from one of my favorite blogs, The Novice Chef. I've had this recipe saved up ever since I first saw it on her blog last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it then because I was in my first trimester of my 2nd pregnancy, suffering from a bad case of morning sickness. So no pumpkin puree or any pumpkin recipe in the fall of 2012. But I vowed that it would be my first pumpkin recipe to try out. And boy was it worth the wait.

I never used to like anything that had to do with pumpkin. But I discovered that it was the spices associated with pumpkin that I didn't like: nutmeg, ground ginger, all spice, cinnamon. Don't get me wrong. I love all those spices. Just not all together with pumpkin. I guess that's why I don't like pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice latte that's been all the rage lately. I'm pretty selective with the spices and flavorings I use with pumpkin in my recipes. This cake hardly has any of the traditional spices in the cake. Which is why I absolutely love this cake. And its so moist and fluffy. After testing this recipe out, hubby has asked me to make it for his family's Thanksgiving luncheon. And I was happy to oblige.

Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1- 15 oz can puree)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk

Cinnamon Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
12 oz (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup (optional, because I didn't have any)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 cups confectioner's sugar

1) Preheat oven to 300 deg F. Grease 3-8 inch pans. Set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Slowly beat in flour, alternating with the milk. Continue beating until well combined.

4) Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick test comes out clean. Remove pans from the oven and immediately place in the freezer to cool for 45 minutes. This will keep the cake moist by immediately stopping the baking so the cake does not continue to bake when you remove it from the oven.

5) For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese over medium speed until smooth. Beat in maple syrup (if using), vanilla and cinnamon. Slowly add confectioner's sugar on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth.

6) Assemble the 3 layers with a thick layer of frosting in between each layer. Then apply a thin crumb coat on the top and the sides. Place in the freezer to harden the crumb coat for about 10 minutes.
Then apply one thick layer of frosting around the outside of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pumpkin & Sausage Manicotti

With the fall season in full swing, I thought I'd try to find recipes to use up some of the pumpkin puree I made a couple of weeks ago. Instead of the usual sweet recipe, I wanted to use the pumpkin puree in a savory dish. I've found a few recipes for pumpkin pasta or pumpkin lasagna. And so I settled with this recipe for Pumpkin & Sausage Manicotti from the Betty Crocker website, which came out pretty good. The recipe called for mozzarella cheese as its topping. However, I didn't have much. So I mixed my leftover mozzarella cheese with a Mexican blend cheese. The cheese flavor came out too strong, so I'll definitely stick with using all mozzarella cheese on my next attempt to make this recipe.

16 uncooked manicotti shells

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. finely chopped sage leaves

1 egg

1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese

3 cups Alfredo pasta sauce

fresh sage for garnish

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Cook and drain pasta according to package directions, using minimum cook time.

2) In a medium skillet, cook sausage, garlic and 1 tablespoon sage over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until sausage is no longer pink. Drain.

3) In a large mixing bowl, beat egg. Stir in ricotta cheese, pumpkin, Parmesan cheese, pepper, 1 cup cheese, the remaining 1 tablespoon of sage and cooked sausage.

4) Spread 1 cup Alfredo sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Fill pasta shells with sausage mixture. Arrange the stuffed shells over the sauce. Pour the remaining 2 cups Alfredo sauce evenly over the shells. Cover and bake for 30-35 minutes or until hot. Uncover and top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Garnish with sage leaves.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

I love the fall season. The weather starts to cool, and the air is filled with the warm scent of cinnamon and nutmeg. Its also the precursor to the upcoming holiday season. Once Halloween is here, then its Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. My favorite holiday. One thing that's in abundance right now are pumpkins. Its pumpkin season and I've been scouring the web for recipes to use with the pumpkins we bought last week at the farm around the corner from our house.

One of my favorite pumpkin recipes, and one that hubby always requests me to make every fall, is my Pumpkin Cake Roll. I've always wanted a cupcake version of this yummy dessert and have always failed in my attempts. Then I found this great recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes from Your Cup of Cake. Cream cheese and pumpkin go together so well that I knew this recipe would be awesome. And it was. The cake was really moist with a touch of cheesecake. I've finally found the perfect pumpkin cupcake.

Cheesecake filling

8 oz package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cake

1/2 cup oil

1/3 cup applesauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2 eggs

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1) To make the cheesecake filling, beat together cream cheese and sugar until evenly combined. Add egg and vanilla and continue beating until smooth. Place in a bowl, cover and chill in the freezer while making the cake batter.

2) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line pans with cupcake liners.

3) In a bowl of a stand mixer, beat together oil, applesauce, sugar and brown sugar on low speed. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Do not over-beat or beat on high.

4) In another bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add half of the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and beat over low-medium speed just until combined. Add milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients and continue beating until combined. Add pumpkin puree.

5) Scoop cupcake batter into cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Place a spoonful of the cheesecake batter on top of cupcake batter. Slightly swirl cheesecake batter into cupcake batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick test comes out with no orange batter (the cream cheese may come off a little). Cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream

8 oz package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3-4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

milk, if needed

cinnamon sugar (optional)

1) Cream together cream cheese and butter for about 3-4 minutes until smooth on medium speed. With the mixer on low, add confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time until desired consistency. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Add milk if necessary to thin out frosting to reach desired consistency. Frost cupcake and top with cinnamon sugar (optional).

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Its a chilly and rainy Saturday morning and we decided to stay in. And whenever we stay in, I like to make a nice breakfast for us.

I still had some pumpkin puree in the freezer that I wanted to use up. And then one day, I came across this recipe from Annie's Eats that I had been saving up and I thought today was a good day to try it out. What a great recipe this was. It very tasty and my daughter loved it. We served this with whipped topping, or pancake syrup, or cinnamon sugar. My daughter liked dipping her pancakes in the whipped topping the best. This is another great way to sneak in something healthy in my daughter's food.

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

dash of ground ginger

dash of ground cloves

1 cup milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil or melted butter

1) In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and all the spices. Stir to combine.

2) In a small bowl, combine milk, pumpkin puree, egg and oil/butter. Add mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until well incorporated (note: the batter will be a little lumpy).

3) Heat a greased skillet or pan. Pour batter on skillet and cook on both sides until golden brown. Serve warm with maple/pancake syrup, whipped topping, or cinnamon sugar.

Pumpkin Soup II

Its a chilly autumn evening and I'm feeling like I want something to warm me up inside. Last week I had roasted a few of the pumpkins we bought for Halloween for later use. Tonight is the perfect time to use some of the pumpkin puree.

I found this recipe from the Food Network website that I wanted to try out because it looked pretty simple. Although I already had another Pumpkin Soup recipe, I felt it lacked a little umph. Something was missing. So when I tried this new recipe tonight, its just what I was looking for. Maybe its the spices I used in this one that was better. I modified the recipe by adding some brown sugar in it because I like my pumpkin soup to be a little more sweet. It was perfect. I think I'll be sticking with this one more.

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup (I used pancake syrup)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 cup heavy whipping cream
toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

1) Place pumpkin, broth, water, syrup, brown sugar and spices in a saucepan and mix well. Heat on medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in cream until thoroughly incorporated. Serve in bowls, topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. (Note: you can also serve the soup by hollowing out a medium sized pumpkin and placing the soup in the pumpkin)

Pumpkin Ice Cream

After all the pumpkin recipes I've made, you'd think I'd be sick of pumpkin yet. And its not even Thanksgiving. Well, I'm not sick of it yet. My next entry with the use of my never-ending supply of pumpkin is......ICE CREAM! I heard somewhere about pumpkin ice cream, and I decided to make my own concoction. I looked at a lot of pumpkin ice cream recipes, and I came up with this simple recipe. Its a little too pumpkin-y for my taste, but it was still okay. If I get the urge to make anything else with pumpkin, I may try to re-vamp this recipe.

1 cup fresh pureed pumpkin

2 cups whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1) Combine all ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Pour into ice cream maker. Run the machine according to manufacturer's instructions for 40-50 minutes.

2) Freeze for 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Pumpkin Soup

I've been feeling like I'm coming down with something. And as usual, I wanted to have some soothing soup to help cure me. Well, what's been the theme of my recipes lately? Pumpkin! So of course, I had to dig up my pumpkin soup recipe. I haven't made it since last year, so its perfect timing for it.

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. all purpose flour

2 cans chicken broth

1 cup fresh pumpkin puree

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup whipping cream

1) In a large saucepan, melt butter. Sautee onion until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the broth, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Return to heat and bring to a boil.

2) Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cream and cook for another 2 minutes, or until heated through.

OH!!! ROAST a pumpkin!

......now, why didn't I think of that???

I was talking to my sisters-in-law on Halloween and was complaining to them how difficult it was for me to peel and cut up the whole pumpkin I bought the last time. And they said that they roasted theirs. Why didn't I think of that? duh!

Its Veteran's day today and hubby and I have the day off. So we decided to take our daughter for a walk to the farm around the corner from our house. I wanted to see if they still had pumpkins I can buy so I can stock up for our upcoming Thanksgiving feasts. "All pumpkins 1/2 off!" So I bought 4 pumpkins to roast and puree for later use.

1) Cut the pumpkin cross-wise. Scoop out all the seeds and thread.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Place cut pumpkin, cut side down, on baking sheet and pour 2 cups of water at the bottom of the pan.
Bake uncovered at 375 deg. F for 1-2 hours, or until pumpkin is fork-tender.

2) Peel the skin off the pumpkin and cut into pieces. Use for your favorite pumpkin recipes.

I can't believe how much easier it was to cook a pumpkin. I think the hardest part was cutting the pumpkin in half, which hubby was glad to do for me. I don't know why I didn't think of doing this before. I guess I figured since I boiled all the root vegetables to puree for my daughter's baby food last year, it was natural for me to think to boil the pumpkin too. Well, now I know.....

Pumpkin Cake Roll

The next thing I wanted to make out of the pumpkin I bought over the weekend was some kind of a cake or cookie. I'm really not that in to pumpkin pie. I have to eat a really good pumpkin pie to be inspired to make it, and I haven't really been that in to it to even eat it. Anyway, I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and I had all the ingredients, plus I've been dying to try to make a cake roll for the longest time, so I decided to attempt it. When baking it, the smell was so heavenly. And it was quite delicious. The pumpkin was not at all too overpowering, which is what I like. And, again, it was surprisingly easy to make. I was always intimidated to make cake rolls, but it was really easy. This is going to be another potluck item I'm adding to my list.

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
confectioners' sugar for dusting

1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese
Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.

2) In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

3) Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool.

4) To Make Filling: Mix confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.

5) Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Caramelized Spicy Pumpkin seeds

Went to the pumpkin patch/farm around the corner from our house and bought a small pumpkin over the weekend. Last year, when I bought a pumpkin, I pureed it for my daughter's baby food. This year, I have so much planned for this pumpkin. But I almost forgot how hard it was last year to peel and cook a whole pumpkin. When I saw all the seeds, I thought of making a sweet and spicy snack with it. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it was quite tasty. My daughter even liked it. The recipe called for ground ginger, but I decided to omit it. This can also be easily cut into half, which is what I did. The seeds in the pumpkin only came out to be about a cup. The rest of the pumpkin will be pureed and I plan on making soup and a dessert with it. I love the fall :)

3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds, washed and dried
cooking spray
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons white sugar

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) In a large bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of sugar, the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper, and set aside.
Place the pumpkin seeds on the prepared baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Bake the seeds in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

3) Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds along with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir the seeds until the sugar forms a coating on the seeds, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the caramelized seeds into the bowl of sugar-spice mixture, toss to coat, and let cool.