Indulge in this Creamy Autumn Cheesecake featuring Crunchy Maple Pecans
Velvety, aromatic and just sweet enough, this pumpkin cheesecake is a celebration of harvest warmth. I avoid prepared pumpkin – it lacks depth and flavor – so I’ve taken the extra step baking some butternut or Kent squash. Roasting enhances the inherent sugars while evaporating extra liquid, producing a deep, aromatic mash imparting genuine complexity. A crunchy pecan topping provides the final flourish: caramelized, rich and with just the right amount of crunch to offset the velvety texture.
Pumpkin Cheesecake and Crunchy Pecan Topping
Prepare about one cup of puree, dice 350-400g peeled, deseeded pumpkin in sections, then roast, with a cover, in a hot oven until soft but not browned. Puree until smooth.
Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hour 45 minutes
Cool 1 hr
Chill at least 6 hours
Serves about 10 people
Base Ingredients
- 200g ginger nut biscuits
- 70g unsalted butter, liquefied, plus extra for greasing
- ⅛ tsp fine sea salt
Creamy Layer
- soft cheese
- fine sugar
- citrus peel
- squash mash (see introduction)
- 2 tsp cornflour
- cinnamon spice
- ginger powder
- freshly grated nutmeg
- hint of cloves
- fresh eggs, at room temperature
- 100ml soured cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Crunchy Finish
- maple sweetener
- sugar
- nut pieces, coarsely cut
- a pinch of salt
- 150ml double cream
Heat the oven to 365F and lightly grease the bottom and edges with a springform pan. In a food processor the cookies into crumbs, place in a mixing bowl. Mix in the butter and salt, and mix coating the crumbs. Transfer to the buttered container, compact it well, bake for 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool.
Reduce the heat to 175C (155C fan). Meanwhile, place the cream cheese, sugar and orange zest in a stand mixer, then beat on low speed slowly until smooth and creamy. Incorporate the spiced pumpkin mix, blend gently well mixed. Mix in eggs separately, incorporating fully between each addition, next include the cream and extract, whip until smooth.
Scoop the cheesecake mixture over the set base level it out with a small spatula. Give it a gentle shake on a worktop to remove bubbles, then heat the cheesecake centered in the oven until set with set edges and the centre is slightly wobbly. Turn off the oven, crack the door open and leave the cheesecake to cool for one hour. When cooled, chill for at least six hours (and up to three days), until firm.
While waiting, prepare the brittle (ahead of time). Set the oven to 210C (190C fan) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment. Stir together the maple syrup and sugar over heat and heat slowly gently until dissolved. Stir in the pecans and sea salt, stop heating transfer to the sheet. Cook for 8 minutes, until caramelized, then remove and leave to cool. After cooling completely, chop into irregular pieces and store in a sealed jar in the freezer.
Open the cake from its tin place on a serving dish. Beat the cream until fluffy, then spoon over the center leaving space around. Scatter most of the pecan brittle on top, then serve with extra pecan brittle alongside.
