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| A dessert to give thanks for. |
The review from my family: they all liked it very much. My son, who was sure he would hate it, since he hates pumpkin pie, has had 3 pieces so far, so I'd say it was a hit for him, for sure. If you enjoy looking for and trying out recipes in advance for Thanksgiving, and if you love cheesecake, you might want to give this one a trial run. As with most cheesecakes, you will need to make it the day/evening before you need it, to give it time to chill in the fridge overnight. (This is actually an advantage on Thanksgiving, I think: one less thing to make the day OF.)
The recipe I first found all those years ago through Gourmet magazine, and found it last week at epicurious.com. I only modified it slightly. All three modifications were due to not having the ingredients on hand that the recipe called for. First, I didn't realize that I was completely out of cornstarch (I substituted a scant 1/4 c. of flour instead, and that worked out fine) and I also had only about half the sour cream I needed for the glaze, so the glaze was spread thinner than I would have preferred, but it still ended up being just fine. I had no heavy cream, and so I substituted half and half in its place, and that worked out fine as well. The recipe I'm giving you today is just as it appears on epicurious.com, but I'm letting you know that I had success even though I had to make a few modifications.
Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Sour Cream Glaze
Ingredients
For the crust:
3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
4 T. butter, melted and cooled
For the filling:
1 1/2 c. solid pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 T. heavy cream (I substituted Half & Half)
1 T. cornstarch (I substituted 1/4 c. flour)
1 t. vanilla
1 T. bourbon
For the topping:
2 c. sour cream
2 T. granulated sugar
1 T. bourbon
16 pecan halves for garnish
Preparation:
Make the crust:
In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, the pecans, and the sugars, stir in the butter, and press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2" up the side of a buttered 9" springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.
Make the filling:
In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, spices, and the brown sugar. In a large mixer bowl, cream together the cream cheese and the granulated sugar, beat in the cream, cornstarch, vanilla, bourbon, and the pumpkin mixture. Beat the filling till it's smooth. Turn the mixer off, scrape the bottom of the bowl (a layer of cream cheese sometimes clings there) and mix for a few seconds more.
Pour the filling into the crust, bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 350º oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.
Make the topping:
In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream, sugar and bourbon. Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake and bake the cheesecake for 5 more minutes. Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack and chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the side of the pan and garnish the top of the cheesecake with the pecan halves.
Do you love fall food, too? Go visit my friend Gigi on Kludgy Mom, to see lots more fall recipes, and join her linky party and giveaway.
