Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Last year for Thanksgiving we made our first "from scratch" pumpkin pie. It was a fun experience. We purchased a special "pie" pumpkin. With no clue how to proceed, we just quartered the pumpkin, cleaned out the seeds and other "pumpkin guts" (to quote Connor) placed cut side down on a cookie sheet, and baked until soft. Once cooked, I scraped the meat into the food processor bowl and pureed until smooth. Not happy with the not-orange-enough color of the puree, I added a cooked carrot to the mixture. It didn't change the flavor, but made the color more appetizing. I actually ended up with more than I needed, so I froze the remained to use in future pies or pumpkin bread.

My plan was to use the puree in place of canned pumpkin in my favorite pie recipe, but thought it deserved a homemade crust. Since I rely on frozen pie crust, I called on my son James, the chef, to make the pastry. He made a rustic, French style crust, rich with butter and sugar. It was delicious. We will definitely be doing this again.

This is my old "go to" recipe. Adjust accordingly if you bake your own pumpkin.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Heat oven to 425°

2 Crusts for 9" deep dish pie

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 ½  cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 can pumpkin (29oz.)

Whipped cream for garnish

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Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Place on cookie sheet in preheated, hot oven.

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Immediately lower temperature to 350°.

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Bake 35 - 45 minutes or until center is almost set

Cool completely on wire rack. Serve topped with whipped cream

 

Simple Cheesecake

          It's supposed to get cold again this week, following a couple of unseasonably warm days. I really don't mind very much. I kind of enjoy the cold, as long as it's dry. Either way, winter weather always puts me in the mood to bake. Last weekend my sweet tooth started missing the holiday goodies. Being rather late in the evening, I took stock of the pantry and proceeded accordingly. I had all the fixin's to make one of my husbands favorites: cheesecake.
          This is a very simple and relatively fast recipe. I had no ready-made pie crust, but I did have a pack of graham crackers. I did something I hadn’t done in years: I made one from scratch. I needed to look up the recipe in good old Betty Crocker, it had been so long. I was really glad for my Cuisinart when it came to turning the crackers into crumbs. I only had half a bag of chocolate chips, and soft cream cheese, not a brick. Even so, the cake turned out just fine. The only difference I noticed was that the chips sunk through the softer batter and created a chocolate layer at the bottom. 

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheesecake
Heat oven to 350°

2 - 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened (light is ok)

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

2 eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup chocolate chips

1 graham cracker or chocolate cookie pie crust

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed of electric mixer. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into crust.  Bake at  350° for 40 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

You can substitute peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips, if you prefer. For a double chocolate cake, add a tablespoon of chocolate syrup in with the sugar and omit the vanilla.

Graham Cracker Crust

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp. sugar

5 tbsp. melted butter

Combine crumbs and sugar in the bottom of a pie pan. Stir in melted butter until completely moistened. Press crumbs against bottom and sides of pan to make a crust. 

Pumpkin Pie Time

            My motto (one of them) has always been “it’s never too early to plan.” This is especially true for holidays, especially where food is involved. With Thanksgiving incredibly less than 3 weeks away, it seems like a good time to start planning the feast.

            We have two extra, uncarved, pumpkins left over from Halloween, and Laura and I decided we'll try to make them into pie filling. So far, we haven't found the time, but I'm hoping  that will change in the next couple of days. The plan is to clean and quarter the pumpkins, season them with cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg and cloves, and bake until soft. Then scrape the flesh, puree and proceed as usual. We'll see how it turns out.

            Just in case, I’d like to share once again, one of my family’s favorites, Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. I found the recipe originally in a magazine in the very early 80’s, and made it for my first “adult” Thanksgiving. It was an instant hit. You can use “lite” cream cheese without hurting the results at all.
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Heat oven to 425°
2 Crusts for 9" deep dish pie

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 ½  cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 can pumpkin (29oz.)

Whipped cream for garnish

.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Place on cookie sheet in preheated, hot oven.

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Immediately lower temperature to 350°.

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Bake 35 -45 minutes or until center is almost set.

Cool completely on wire rack. Serve topped with whipped cream