Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Happy Thanksgiving! We are hosting a feast at our house this year. It will be my first time cooking a complete turkey. We are making appetizers, the bird, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and dessert. Guests are contributing the rest of the dinner. I'm sure we will have loads of great food and company.

This is my absolute favorite cheesecake. I eagerly wait all year until it is the right season to eat it. I have made it every year for the past eight years. I love the gingersnap crust; it is just different enough, and it complements the pumpkin flavor. This year, I brought it to our extremely late night rehearsal for Candlelight. Hopefully it helped people stay awake. I realize that everyone has probably made (and eaten) their Thanksgiving desserts already, but this cheesecake is a winner for anytime during the holiday season.


Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Adapted from Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake
Gourmet, 1999

Crust:
1 ½ c finely ground gingersnap cookies
5 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
¼ c sugar
¼ tsp salt

Cheesecake:
20 oz (2 ½ 8-oz packages) cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
2 Tbs flour
3 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla
2 large egg yolks
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 c pumpkin puree (about ¾ of a 15 oz. can)

For the crust: Mix all ingredients together. Press onto the sides and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan in an even, thin layer. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and flour with an electric mixer. Add the 3 eggs, one at a time, beating between additions and scraping down the bowl. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, beat the 2 egg yolks, spices, and pumpkin until smooth. Add about 1 ½ c of cream cheese mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir until combined.

Place springform pan in a rimmed baking pan. Pour ¾ of the pumpkin filling into the crust. Pour the plain filling over it. Drizzle the remaining pumpkin filling over the surface and swirl to make a marbled pattern. Bake for 20 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 300˚F. Bake another hour. Do not open the oven door to check on the cheesecake while it bakes. After the hour, turn the oven off and leave the oven door cracked open for 20 minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and let cool on a wire rack. When cool, remove the sides of the pan and serve.