Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline is utterly delicious. Never thought I would say this, but yes, pumpkin does work in a cheese cake.

My Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline had the family baffled, they could identify all the familiar spices, but they pumpkin flavor was too subtle for them to guess. I thought it will be to pumpkin-ny, but I was wrong. The combination of pumpkin with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves just worked so well. Add to that the ginger biscuit crust and you have a winning recipe.

I love pumpkin. Ever week with my vegetable order, I get a huge pumpkin and so many possibilities to bake or cook. Pumpkin Fritters are right at the top of the list. Whether you choose Grandma’s pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin Doughnuts, smothered in melted chocolate, there is something very homely and comforting about pumpkins.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline

makes one 25 cm cheese cake

Ingredients

Crust

300g/ 1½ packets Ginger Nuts Biscuits
80 g/⅓ cup butter – melted

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

3 x 250 g cream cheese, room temperature – I prefer Lancewood

450 ml/ 1¾ cups sugar

1 t  cinnamon

¼ t nutmeg

½ t  fine ginger

½ t ground cloves

60 ml /¼ cup flour

5 ml/1 t vanilla extract

250 ml/1 cup pumpkin purée – about 5 slices baked in the oven and puréed in food processor.

4 x-large eggs – room temperature

125 ml / ½ cup cream – room temperature

For the praline

125 ml toasted pumpkin seeds

125 ml sugar

30 ml/2 T water

125 ml cream – whipped to stiff peaks

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350°F. Line the bottom of a 25 cm/10″ springform pan with silicone paper. This prevents the mixture from leaking. Spray the pan with Spray n Cook.

For the Crust
Place the biscuits in a food processor and pulse until you have a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and pulse until it just comes together. Press mixture in the bottom and the sides of the pan. Bring the crust abut halfway up the sides of the pan. Place in the fridge until needed.

Cheese cake Filling

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed until there are no more lumps.
Sift the sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg into the cream cheese mix and mix for another 3 minutes.
Add the pumpkin pureé and vanilla and mix to combine all the ingredients. Add the eggs one at a time and mix properly after each addition. Lastly mix in the cream.
Gently pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 50- 55 minutes.
Turn the oven off, leave the door open and allow the cake to slowly cool in the oven until completely cooled off. Remove the cheese cake from the oven and refrigerate overnight.

To make the praline

Line a baking sheet with silicone paper. Spread the pumpkin seeds evenly over the paper. Heat sugar and water in s small pot until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil until the mixture turns to a dark amber colour. Pour the sugar syrup over the pumpkin seeds and cool until the praline is hard. Break into shards to use as decorations.

To assemble the cheese cake

Release the clip of the springform pan and transfer the cheese cake to a cake plate or stand. Pipe the whipped cream around the edge of the cheese cake and place the praline shards in the cream.

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