Pumpkin Cheesecake

Well I had a can of pumpkin puree on hand that was going to expire in a month. Pumpkin Cheesecake. When I was getting my nails done I came across a recipe in Real Simple. It Sounded delicious. Well this project turned out to be more than I had expected. The recipe from Real Simple was a refrigerator pie. No cooking. Now this is fine but I had a baking craving going on.

So on to the search I went to Food Network and looked at Paula Deans recipe  plus a recipe from The Joy of Baking that gave me the cream cheese topping for the pie. It was a project.  I cooked it at 355 for a little over an hour . The time cooked truly depends on your stove. Oh also I did not have enough cream cheese I was about 4 oz. off so I went to this link and it has all the Common Ingredient Substitutes really cool and very handy site. I replace the cream cheese with some Greek yogurt. The results awesome.

So it ended up going like this

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs.
* I used half graham cracker and half english tea cookies/crackers.
They had a little sweet taste to them and where thicker.
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup of melted butter


In a food processor break up the crackers into crumbs , add the butter and sugar. Take the cracker crumb and press it into a spring form pan. Cook in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes. Take it out and cool it while you prepare the filling

Filling

1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 1/2  8 oz sticks of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt
1 cup of granulated  sugar
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon of nutmeg

In a mixer mix the cream cheese until it is smooth , add the pumpkin and yogurt until it is mixed well. Now add the spices , eggs and sugar. Last add the flour and mix well.

 Pour the mixture on to your crust and bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. Cook it until the middle is still giggly. Take it out and let it cool then put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours

Topping
1 cup sour cream
4 tbs sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip up the topping

In a small bowl add your sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Use a whisk and whisk till smooth and top your cake or if you prefer just put some whip cream in a bowl to add if you or your friends want to. I sprinkled a little pumpkin spice on top . It was a hit

Sprinkle the top with some nutmeg. You can use Pumpkin Spice but enough is enough with the pumpkin ! 

This is a nice change from the usual Pumpkin Pie and it is so light and scrumptious !

Pumpkin Pie 2023

This recipe was done originally in 2014. Well it is 2023 and I am updating this classic. Once I started to bake fresh I never went back to store bought.

 
Fresh baked is crazy good. So grab a pumpkin throw it on a cookie sheet and call it pie! But first here are a few of my changes. I now cut the top off the pumpkin and scrape all the stuff out. I use to just cook the whole thing just as shown to the left. 



Now in 2023 although it is a bit more work it is worth it. I scrape out the pumpkin stuff and save the seeds for the oven to toast up for the kids. Well actually for the grandkids. Once this is done cut the pumpkin up to cook. Any way you wish. I just leave it whole and cook at 375 for approximately 45 minutes until for tender in side. 

A standard pumpkin should cook up to 3 cups of pumpkin puree. I cook much more to have during the year for more pies or to give to the chickens. 

Here is what you need to make the pie along with your pumpkin. 

Ingredients

1 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp of ground cloves
1 tsp of ground all spice
½ tsp pf ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
4 eggs
3 cups of fresh pumpkin

Now a pumpkin is a pumpkin is a pumpkin right?  NO it is not ! There are two types the pie pumpkins and the jack o lantern I grow my own so a jack oh lantern it is. There are also many ways to cook your pumpkin.  My way well easy just wash it put the whole thing on a tray and cook the little guy in the oven at 425 for 45 minutes to an hour and a half till he is fork tender.


Set it aside to cool. Then you can cut him into pieces.


Scrape out the seeds for the kids and hubby you can salt them and roast them in a 350 degree oven till lightly brown and let them cool. Truly a treat the folks in the house will want them every year. I know!

Get rid of the hairy stuff on the seeds.




Once the pumpkin is cooled and you have scraped the inner out, (not the seeds) place the scraping  into your food processor if you don’t have one use your blender or anything that will make a mash that is satisfying texture to you.

Add all your spices and the eggs. You can always add a pinch of cream to thicken it up if you want to. I do but I’m partial to cream in many recipes.








Did you buy a pie crust or make it from scratch.
I made my first one from scratch.
Here is the link bake your own pie crust


Or just buy a pie crust either way it works !

Ok pour your pumpkin mush in the pie crust and cook in the oven for 45 minutes till a fork comes out clean and it looks done not hard to judge this one. Look at my pictures mine was looking pretty good and tasted even better.

Enjoy this was so much easier than I thought it would be










 Looks pretty good for a first try I would say!









Did you clean your seeds and bake them in the oven at 325 for about 15 minutes salt them up and enjoy them.....my kids loved this when they were little now I mail them to the Island of Oakland for Chris to enjoy...he is my seed eater... God Bless