Hello beauties,
Cannot believe that tomorrow is the first day of fall! This year had flown by for me. Anyone else?! It’s time for pumpkin spiced lattes, all of the candles I can get my hands on and lots and lots of fall desserts. I texted some of our friends the other day asking what their favorite fall desserts were. Most people said pumpkin pie and apple pie. I have already posted my all time favorite pumpkin pie recipe that legitimately beats all other pumpkin pies…you can find that recipe HERE. I will work on an apple pie recipe for you but until then, this pumpkin cheesecake is to die for. Okay, maybe not to die for but it’s really damn good. It’s creamy, it’s cheesy, it’s pumpkin-y and oh-so-perfect for fall. It’s a rich dessert of course because of it’s density but why stop there…why not top it off with a caramel rum sauce? 😉 Let’s just say goodbye to our abs for a few months and rely on spray tans to make us look toned.
But in all seriousness, moderation is what it’s all about. Let yourself have a piece and don’t feel bad about it. And ya know what, have a piece tomorrow, too. Do you, boo.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs about 10 sheets of crackers
- 1 stick salted butter melted
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar can use coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil or two sheets of regular on top of each other
Filling Ingredients:
- 3 8 oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 15 oz can of pumpkin
- 3 whole eggs + 1 yolk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups boiling water
Caramel Rum Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp rum
Instructions
Directions for crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until coarse meal has formed. Add melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Pulse to combine.
- Take your 9" springform pan and center on top of the aluminum foil. Tightly press the tin foil up around the sides of the springform pan. It should be tight and should be about an inch above the bottom of the pan at least around all sides.
- Press your graham cracker crust into the bottom of the springform pan and set aside.
Directions for the filling:
- Beat your room temperature cream cheese in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy. About 1 minute. Next, add in your pumpkin puree, eggs + yolk, sour cream, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Beat until well combined. Mix in the flour and vanilla and beat again until well combined about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour your cheesecake filling into the springform pan on top of the graham cracker crust. Place that pan inside of a big roaster pan.
- Place the roaster pan in the oven and keep the rack pulled out so you can easily access it. Pour 2 cups of hot, almost boiling water into the base of the roaster pan, careful not to pour onto the cheesecake.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Remove roaster pan from oven and take the springform pan out and let cool on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Then cover with foil and place in fridge for 2 hours.
Directions for caramel rum sauce:
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, cook and whisk for a couple of minutes. Slowly add in the heavy cream, whisking the whole time. It will come to a boil and rise up a little, keep whisking! Once the sugar has broken down and texture is smooth, remove from the heat. Add in the rum and stir to combine. Drizzle over sliced cheesecake.
This rum sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can use this on a lot of different desserts so don’t be shy! Experiment a little. Would be great on anything apple!
**Note**
The importance of a water bath: it keeps your cheesecake moist and creamy while preventing the dreaded “split” that can happen while baking a cheesecake. It makes all the difference.
This cheesecake recipe was inspired by Paula Deen. I made some adjustments to ingredients and changed the cooking method. The rum sauce is an original inspired by my mama. 🙂 ENJOY! It’s so frickin’ good and I can’t wait to see you guys make this. Let fall beginnnnnnnn NOW.
xox
Tessa
