PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE WITH PECAN PRALINE SAUCE

I had the whole Thanksgiving menu planned with the exception of dessert.  I'd noticed that a little bakery/cafe at the top of my street was selling pies and sweets and whatnot that could be pre-ordered for Thanksgiving.  One of their confections was a pumpkin cheesecake with praline topping or something.  I liked the idea of that.  A nice little twist on the regular old pumpkin pie.  I decided to get one.  I phoned  the lovely woman at that cafe and soon my order was place but after I hung up I was a little, I don't know, uneasy.  I IMed Annie and asked "Do you think $56 for a cheese cake is a lot?" She thought it was.  I explained that what with everything else I was making I wanted to just buy the dessert, but the price seemed like a lot.  However the recipe sounded so good.  "Don't be a cheater," she wrote back.  She so knows how to get me.  I was totally cheating.  "What would Martha do?" she added, twisting the knife.  UGH.  Damn you, Annie!

I called the lovely woman at the bakery/cafe and cancelled my order.  Fortunately the November issue of Food and Wine had a recipe for a cheesecake that sounded almost exactly like the one I had ordered.  I sat down and made a list of ingredients I needed to pick up.  I guess I was making dessert as well.

INGREDIENTS

(For the cheesecake)

One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (1 3/4 cups)
8 whole graham crackers, broken
1/2 cup pecans (2 ounces)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups cream cheese (14 ounces), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

(For the pecan praline sauce)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups pecans

(For serving)

Softly whipped cream, unsweetened

METHOD

Set a rack over a baking sheet and line the rack with 2 layers of paper towels. Spread the pumpkin puree over the paper towels and let drain for 2 hours, until the puree is fairly dry.

Preheat the oven to 500°. Butter the bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. Add the pecans and brown sugar and pulse until finely ground. Add the melted butter and pulse just until incorporated. 

Press the crumbs onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for about 8 minutes, just until it is fragrant and slightly browned around the edges. Let the crust cool completely.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the cream cheese until it is very smooth. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar with the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. With the machine on, add the spiced sugar to the cream cheese and beat until creamy, scraping the bottom and side of the bowl. 

Carefully add the drained pumpkin puree and beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in the heavy cream, lemon juice and vanilla until the cheesecake mixture is smooth.  It'll be pretty runny.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the cooled crust.

Bake the cheesecake for 12 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 225° and bake the cheesecake for about 3 hours, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 150°.  Right from the oven it'll be very puffed and the center will be slightly jiggly but not liquidy.  As it cools, it'll deflate and it may crack.

Let the cheesecake cool on a rack, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To make the pecan praline sauce, Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer just until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. 

Let the caramel cool.

Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes, until they are lightly browned and fragrant. Transfer the pecans to a work surface and let them cool. Coarsely chop half the nuts and leave the other half whole.  Just before serving, stir them into the cooled, but still slightly warm caramel.

To serve the cheesecake, run a hot knife around the cheesecake and loosen the springform ring. Carefully remove the ring and transfer the cake to a plate. Using a warm knife, cut the cake into wedges and serve with the Pecan Praline Topping and whipped cream.

I have to say, I'm really happy that I challenged myself (or rather Annie shamed me into challenging myself) and made a dessert, which I've written multiple times in the past, is not something I feel incredibly confident in.  But then there are tricks, and things like cheesecake are among them.  Whenever I've baked cakes, they usually wind up dry.  A cheesecake, can't be dry.   Anyway, this cheesecake is the perfect new Thanksgiving tradition.  Pumpkiny and full of the warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice, it's the essence of fall.  I really like that it's not super sweet.  Rather that sugar kick comes from the warm, oozy, and buttery praline sauce.  Note that the sauce is best when it's made the day it's being served.  To accompany leftover cheesecake in the days following Thanksgiving, I reheated it several times, and maybe I let it get too hot, but the butter or something sort of separated from the sugar and the sauce became sort of a weird greasy mess.  Just so you know.  

Serves 12 or so

Comments

[tokyoastrogirl]

This looks absolutely SINFUL! Which means I'd love it:). It's gorgeous.

[Emily]

We, too, decided that we're no longer doing pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving- too boring and just not that good. We're already planning to do a pumpkin cheesecake for next year and I'll definitely hold onto your recipe for reference.

[Kitty]

Hey! We also made this exact recipe for Thanksgiving this year. I accidentally added only half the called for cream cheese, which left it with a consistency somewhere between pumpkin pie and cheesecake, but still very tasty. Next year, I will make it again, but the way its instructed.

[Kevin]

That looks so good!

[johanna]

mmmh that looks positively delicious! i am in love with caramel, so thie is right up my alley! have never baked with pumpkin, though, strange as that may seem to you ;-)

[James]

Wow !!! this looks so delicious. I am so excited to try. Thanks for recipe and directions.