Pumpkin Cheesecake

by Eddy Van Damme on November 7, 2011

 

Not every country in the world is fond of pumpkin desserts but for the places which do, pumpkin cheesecake is a welcoming finish to a good meal. A nice thing about using pumpkin in cheesecake is that pumpkin makes this dessert lighter in fat calories, enhances the creaminess and makes the dessert very fitting for the fall season.  For any type of cheesecake I recommend baking the crust separate and placing the baked and cooled cheesecake onto the baked crust. This prevents a disappointing bottom.  The flavor profile of this cheesecake works very well if placed on prebaked gingersnap crumbles or speculaas (speculoos).

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

About 30 individual servings

3 lb Cream cheese (Philadelphia) 1440 g
1 lb 8 oz Extra fine granulated sugar 720 g
8 Large eggs 8
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract 10 g
¼ teaspoon Salt 1 g
2 tbps Orange zest 6 g
1 Tbsp Cinnamon (Vietnamese Cassia) 6 g
2 tsp Ginger, dried 4 g
1 lb 14 oz Pumpkin puree, cooked 900 g
  1. Allow the cream cheese to come at room temperature for easy blending.
  2. Combine the cream cheese and the sugar on low speed until smooth and no lumps remain. Scrape well.
  3. Add eggs one at a time waiting for the previous added amount to be fully incorporated before adding next. Scrape often in between.
  4. Add all the flavorings and the pumpkin puree.
  5. Brush rings lightly with oil and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Wrap two sheets of aluminum foil underneath each ring and place in a roasting pan or a pan with high edges. Fill the rings with the batter.
  6. Pour water into the roasting pan to create a Bain Marie, about ½ inch (2 cm) of water surrounding the rings.
  7. Place in a 325°F (160°C) oven and bake until the center is set and no longer trembles, about 43 minutes.
  8. Allow to cool for several hours in the refrigerator before removing from the ring.
  9. If desired spray with cocoa butter and decorate as desired.

 

49 comments on “Pumpkin Cheesecake

  1. Lee Ann Romero on said:

    Delicious and creamy when we made this in class. Liked the sweet potato for pumpkin substitution and baking crust separately. My only other attempt at pumpkin cheesecake in the past was a flop. This time it turned out great!

  2. Hilary Adams on said:

    Oh, wow!! That looks so amazing!!!! I can’t wait to try it!

  3. I really love the idea of baking the crust seperately because it retains the crunchy texture. And using streusel with added speculaas spice is now my new favourite choice of crust in terms of both taste & texture. Thank you for sharing.

  4. Yesenia Garcia on said:

    Chef Eddy ,

    Thank you , for this delicious cheesecake. I can’t wait to try it!!!

  5. Niah Clark on said:

    Looks delicious, can’t wait to make it in class!

  6. Chef, I’m interested to know why you sprayed the cheesecake with colored cocoa butter. It is an aesthetic prefrence or to help keep it’s shape?

  7. Priscilla Martel on said:

    Eddy, this is great. The cocoa butter spray gives it a nice polished look. Maybe we’ll be serving this at Thanksgiving along with cranberry mousse filled caramel glazed profiteroles?

  8. Eddy Van Damme on said:

    Thank you Priscilla. Your cranberry mousse filled profiteroles sound very delicious.
    Eddy

  9. Eddy Van Damme on said:

    Hi Mandi,
    The spray was used for aesthetics only.
    My best, Eddy

  10. Lovely and beautiful pastel color .

  11. Wonderful recipe and presentation. I grow my own pumpkins and this is a good use for them! And because I am dutch I love the speculaas bottom!

  12. Adriana Diaz on said:

    Chef,

    Would fresh ginger give me the same result as dried ginger? I keep ginger in the freezer 🙂

    Thanks,
    Adriana

  13. Hi ! I’ve just discovered your website and I find it awesome ! a professional sharing his recipes : that is exactly what I wanted to discover. Your creations seems great and delicous… Can’t wait to try some of them =)
    Thank you for sharing all that

  14. Lisa Ibanez on said:

    I have never really tried pumpkin because it just smelled terrible cutting into it but when we made the pumpkin bread, it was a big eye opener to a lot of things I have yet to try. I am glad you posted this recipe because almost everyone I know loves cheesecake and I always want to try something new and this will definitely be it! Thanks Chef.

  15. Mayah Cash on said:

    Does this recipe keep its orginal cheesecake taste with just a hint of pumpkin or is it mostly pumpkin with just a cheesecake texture?

  16. Victoria Bishop on said:

    First, this is a beautiful picture. I was wondering why you put the tin foil around the pan in that one picture.

  17. jessica raymond on said:

    pumpkin cheesecake is one of my favorites. its nice to know that is slightly more healthy than plain cheesecake. i like the look the cocoa powder gives to the cut slice of cheesecake. its a very refine finish.

  18. Crystal Swaim on said:

    Chef Eddy,

    This was a lot of fun to make in class. I shared one with a friend of mine who split it with her family and they said it was delicious! I really like that the recipe called for extra fine sugar. I use Imperial’s superfine sugar when I make lemonade!

  19. I usually skip pumpkin pie as I don’t care for the taste of canned pumpkin. I’m glad fresh was used here. Interested to know which type was used. I’ve read that the traditional field pumpkins are not good for baking because it is stringy, not meaty, and sometimes not flavorful. Orhers say it is hard to get good puree consistency. Open question to all on using fresh pumpkin?

  20. Amy Anglin on said:

    I am tired eating pumpkin pies for holidays. This recipe I’ve made in class with you and I fell love in eating this one. I will definitely use this recipes instead pie for my family and friends for holidays. Thank you for taught me this one in class but except paint it orange.

  21. Ben Davenport on said:

    Chef Eddy,

    The pumpklin cheescake is incredibly delicious. I’m happy I had the opportunity to make this in class.

    Ben Davenport

  22. hai vonguyen on said:

    Nice touch with the cocoa butter chef.

  23. Vanessa Villarreal on said:

    I cut the recipe in half an made it for the family, they loved it. Thanks Chef.

  24. Wanda D Powell on said:

    I am not a fan of pumpkin, so when we did this recipe in class we used sweet potato. It worked just as well, a dessert that I will be making for my family this Christmas. Thanks!

  25. John Foisy on said:

    I love the taste of pumpkins and with the creamy smooth texture of cheesecake. I want to make it with the gingershap crust as you have suggested.

  26. Jennifer Contreras on said:

    I really love using the speculaas crumbles I think the flavors in the speculaas cookies really compliment the flavor of the pumpkin and even when using sweet potato instead of pumpkin the flavors all go perfectly together.
    Thank you for letting us experiment with flavors in class, this recipe was delicious!

  27. crystal vela on said:

    ive made a pumpkin cheesecake like this and i found it to be very delectible…..cant wait to try!

  28. arrion on said:

    Wow this do not like real. because when i make pumpkin cheesecake don’t look like this. but it’s good

  29. Demetrias Edwards-Destin on said:

    I don’t know if the family is going to like pumkin but I’m still going to try, it looks deliciously rich

  30. It’s so smooth and creamy and pumpkin makes it a more healthy dessert. Great for everyone, and for the coming holidays!

  31. shaun fenton on said:

    Its good for thankgiving too, becuzue my family both love pumpkin and cheesecake.

  32. shaun fenton on said:

    The creamy smooth texture is like a teasts of haven.

  33. Good tip for a great crust!

  34. Jelani Byerly on said:

    I have been a fan of pumpkin cheesecake for sometime now, i had it for the 1st time in 2000. Just the thought of pumkin cheesecake made my run, well after my family caught me and made me try it. I dont know why i have never tried it before, it was amazing, and now thanks to you I can have this experience whenever i choose.

    Thanks, Chef Eddy

  35. Using a cocoa butter spray is such a great idea. I enjoy the flavor of pumpkin pie, but sometimes the color isn’t so enticing. Adding a festive hue makes the dessert just pop.

  36. Tikishia Jenkins on said:

    Chef Eddy-

    The Cheesecake is simply beautiful! Just to know that it is less fat calories make me want to try it soon! I admire how you used to cocoa butter spray. I cant wait to try it.

  37. Raina Cardona on said:

    I have made pumpkin cheesecake before but all the recipes i have used before have used a chocolate cookie crust that always falls apart when i cook it. I really love the idea of using speculaas as a crust for the pumpkin cheesecake, the flavors will really go great together..thank you very much!

    Raina

  38. Meghan I on said:

    This looks and soudns amazing! Would using fresh pumpkins be best? I think I would try it in a crust as well, graham cracker crusts are my favorite, along with cheesecake and pumpkins.

  39. Richard Martinez on said:

    This looks like it would be a nice replacement for pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day

  40. Carol Weber Abarca on said:

    This looks wonderful. I must try for Thanksgiving this year. What is the topping you placed on this in the picture? Hope we make in class……

  41. William McKinney on said:

    I tried chessecake before but with this pumpkin chessecake it was different to me cake i do not eat chessecake. I am willing to try anything at less once. this was my 2nd time eating chessecake.

  42. Andrew Weigel on said:

    I am making this right now for the family tomorrow. The one we made is school was great, so I hope I can make magic happen twice.

  43. sandra martinez on said:

    I enjoyed making pies in class, now that I learned your method of baking the crust and filling seperately. I would definitely recommend for other to so do as well. Not only was it a stress breaker but also gave the final product a excellent, clean look.

  44. Ashly Willis on said:

    I never thought of using orange zest or ginger in this, but that sounds so good, I’ll have to try it out!

  45. valerie alexander on said:

    I really loved this dessert. I love cheese cake and i wasnt sure it i would like pumpkin but it was a big hit with me and my family.

  46. Brenda Mata on said:

    Made the recipe for a couple of friends and everyone loved it

  47. Sharyll Crawford on said:

    I tried a Pumpkin Pie for the first time maybe 3 or 4 years ago and i think its spoiled pumpkin flavored everything for me. I’m sure it would be great to pumpkin lovers, but what about potato instead?

  48. Christian S on said:

    i enjoyed making this in class, i never knew there was a such thing as the pumpkin cheesecake. it was light,creamy,and the pumpkin didnt overwhelm it

  49. Nhu Ta on said:

    Im not that big fan of pumpkin but I do like this recipe chef…. Can I use carrot to make it healthier? I think carrot cheesecake would be something different to bring to the plate, and also a lot healthier as well.

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