Pumpkin Cheesecake

We like to spend Thanksgiving at home, and then after dinner we go to a few relatives' houses for dessert and to visit.  So, when it comes time for leftovers, we are all itching for that taste of sweet pumpkin.  Normally I make a cold pumpkin pudding pie, but this year wanted to make a cheesecake.  I could not ignore pumpkin as a key ingredient!  This cheesecake was my family's favorite so far, and it was eaten VERY quickly!  I am looking forward to making it again around Christmas time!

To Make the Filling
1. Leave out 2 blocks of cream cheese to soften.  Once they are soft (usually in about an hour), blend them with 3/4 cup of sugar.

2. Beat in 3 eggs one at a time.  Add the eggs one at a time and make sure they are well incorporated into the filling so your batter does not become a slimy mess!

3. Beat in 8 oz of sour cream and mix well.

4. Add 8 oz of pumpkin puree, a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.
5. Blend everything together!

To Make the Crust
1. Pulverize ginger snap or spice cookies until you have two cups worth that are the consistency of sand, and put it in a bowl.
2. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter (either on the stove or in the microwave), and mix it into the crumbs using a fork.  It will take a minute before the butter evenly spreads amongst the cookie crumbs.
3. Time to prepare your baking pan!  I like using a spring form pan when I make cheesecake, mainly because it is easy to present, and also cut and serve.  A spring form pan has a latch on the side of it that allows it to open by approximately an extra half inch around the entire circumference around the pan.  I bought mine as a set of 3 from Ross for $9.99, but they can also be found at Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Target, etc.  If you do not have a spring form pan, you can use a cake pan.  You will need to wrap your pan in aluminum foil.  This helps prevent the crust from burning, and also helps the cheesecake cook more evenly!

Inside spring form pan

The buckle - aka business end - of the spring form pan

4. Spray the inside of your aluminum wrapped pan with Pam or another type of non-stick spray.
5. Pour your cookie crumbs into the pan.  (If you are using a shallow cake pan you will only need about half of the crumbs you prepared).  Press them into the bottom and sides of the pan to create a layer of crust.

6. Put the pan in the fridge for 15 minutes or longer so the buttered crumbs have time to set and hold the shape of the pan.

To Bake the Cheesecake
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Get your pan out of the fridge and pour the filling into the crust gently.  Again, if you are using a shallow pan, you will not need all of the filling.  You will only need to fill the pan about half way with the filling.

3. Bake your cheesecake for just over 1 hour.  You will need to keep an eye on it...if you open the oven and it has risen and no longer jiggles, your cheesecake is done.  Bring it out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the fridge! Don't panic, as it cools it will shrink down to half the height it was when you pulled it out of the oven!

An example of a cheesecake fresh out of the oven!

An example of after the cheesecake cools!

The finished pumpkin cheesecake!  It cracked a little bit more than the cheesecakes normally do, but it was still delicious!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Those of you that are fortunate enough to traffic Jersey diners on a regular basis probably look forward to Halloween as much as I do for one particular reason.  Just before Halloween, and through Thanksgiving, most of the diners offer up their precious pumpkin pancakes as a substitute for their regular batter.  I am, admittedly, not a huge fan of pancakes, but this time of year I find myself gravitating not only to the diner, but also to the breakfast menu morning, noon, and night!  My favorite diner offers up a nice 3 pancake platter with a meat side (choice of scrapple, sausage links, Italian sausage, or bacon) for approximately 7 bucks.  While I love getting them at the diner (it's all about the ambiance), at 7 dollars, this habit can become a little pricey!  After a failed attempt earlier this week (do not, I repeat DO NOT add pumpkin puree to pancake batter), I finally managed to get close to what the diner's pumpkin pancakes taste like.  After some trial, and serious error, I figured out that the magic lies in pumpkin pie spices, and not actual pumpkin!  On a quick side note, before I move on to the recipe, if you have not experienced the Amish delicacy that is scrapple, I will touch on it in another blog post soon!  The closest thing I can equate it to is a spicy meat hashbrown...nonetheless...it is delish!


Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Yields 3 servings (2 large pancakes per person)

To Prepare the Pancakes
1. Mix 3 cups of complete pancake powder with 2 cups of water.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, and 1/2 a teaspoon each of ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Blend this all very well!
3. Heat a small amount of butter or non-stick cooking spray in a frying pan over LOW heat.  Low heat is the key to perfectly golden brown pancakes!  There are few things worse that looking forward to pancakes and getting a plate of burnt offerings instead!
4. Pour and slightly spread 1/2 a cup of batter into the pan, and let it rest until the batter is firm and rising around the edges and bubbling on the top.  Gently flip it!  As far as the measurement of batter goes, I like to make gigantic pancakes, but you can go with what ever size you prefer or normally make!

I make my pancakes in a 6 inch pan so I have control over their size and shape!

5. Cook on the other side until the pancake has risen more and it has a golden brown color on the bottom.  Check it gently with a spatula to see if the bottom is brown.  As a rule of thumb, if you cannot get the pancake edge to lift easily with the spatula, it is more than likely still cooking, and also, if you press down on the top with the spatula and it doesn't bounce back, your pancake is not done cooking yet! 
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you are out of batter!

Pass the syrup!

7. Serve with maple syrup, and I made some sausage to go along side it, too! 

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons

After perusing my new favorite grocery store (The Golden Mango), I found quartered pumpkins for cooking in the refrigerated produce section.  I obviously could not turn this offer down (especially when 3 pounds worth was only $2.00)!!!  With Vegetarian Week quickly looming on the blog, I opted for it, and figured I would find something to do with it.  I didn't want to go the obvious route of pie or bread, and finally remembered that there is such a thing as pumpkin soup!  I wanted to find a balance between sweet and savory though, especially since my dad and sister can be a little picky sometimes!  They really ended up enjoying it, and we are now looking forward to making it the week after Thanksgiving to have with leftover turkey sandwiches!  I also almost forgot to mention that this actually ended up being a vegan recipe!

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons
Yields 6 servings


To Prepare the Soup 
1. Puree 3 pounds of pumpkin.  If you are going to puree them from scratch, you will need to cut the pumpkin into manageable pieces, and remove all of the seeds and goopy stringy bits!  Leave the skin on though, as it peels off much more easily after it is baked.  Bake the pumpkin in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for an hour and a half!  When the pumpkin is done cooking, cool it, peel it, and puree it either in a food processor or in a food mill.  If you do not want to go through this process, use 3 pounds of pumpkin from the grocery store!  Just be sure it is pumpkin puree and not the pie filling though!

2. Start boiling the pumpkin puree in a large pot.
3. Add in a can of cream of coconut (Approximately 16 ounces).  If you do not like coconut, you could use regular milk that is sweetened with a little brown sugar, or you could use vanilla or almond soy milk to keep this recipe vegan!
4. Add in a can of vegetable broth (Approximately 16 ounces).
5. Add in 1 heaping teaspoon of curry powder.
6. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
7. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.
8. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger.
9. Let all of this simmer over medium heat.

To Prepare the Croutons 
1. Slice 6 slices of wheat bread into thirds.  Be sure to use a vegan friendly bread if you are keeping this recipe vegan!
2. Place them on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sea salt.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crunchy!

Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies

This isn't a recipe I can take credit for, but it is very yummy!  It is chock full of fall flavor with pumpkin, walnuts, raisins, spices, butter, and brown sugar. I've served them both iced and un-iced, and they are delicious either way!  I only make them between October and then end of November, so they are a welcomed treat when they come out of the oven!

Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies 
Source: The Great American Cookie Cookbook
Yields 30 cookies

To Prepare the Cookies
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Blend 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) with 1 cup of packed brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.
3. Once the above ingredients are blended well, mix in 1 1/2 cups of canned pumpkin, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
4. Mix in 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
5. Once all of the dry ingredients are well incorporated, add 1 cup of chopped walnuts and 3/4 cup of raisins.
6. Spoon the batter onto cookie sheets and bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until firm.

To Prepare the Icing
1. Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of milk while your cookies are cooling.
2. After the cookies have cooled, drizzle a thin stream of icing over the top of them with a spoon.