Yesterday, November started. Yesterday, Thanksgiving began. Turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, rolls, salad, green beans and fall desserts were served, eaten and enjoyed. Normally, I wait like the rest of you to celebrate Thanksgiving until the designated Thursday when it is appropriate to stuff yourself silly on foods you eat once a year. If we enjoy them so much, why don’t we eat them more often? Why don’t I make turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes in April, just because?
Back to yesterday…Thanksgiving came early this year as a farewell dinner for some dear friends, for whom I am very thankful. I was thrilled to be able to bake up several batches of rolls and a delicious pumpkin swirl cheesecake to share. The idea of the cheesecake came from my friend and the recipe was written on a piece of paper 7 years ago, taken to Peru and of course was in the envelope in the one bag that was stolen as I returned back to the states. I tried to remember where she had gotten it and settled with the recipe from Kraft.
I loved the idea of the gingersnap crust, I knew others would enjoy it as well. Kraft presents the recipe as cheesecake bars and provides an adaptation for baking the cheesecake in a springform pan, which I did. I did not measure, nor follow their “suggestions” for the spices…instead I added cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and and dash of allspice. Mind you, because of the success I had with the Daring Baker cheesecake, I did hesitate with using this recipe and wondered how to adapt Abbey’s recipe to include a pumpkin swirl. So you weigh the options, bake a pumpkin recipe with the risk that it will crack or bake up a recipe that adding pumpkin puree might make it too liquidy, but you are sure it wont crack.
Okay, so I went with the Kraft recipe and…regretted it. The taste was good. The texture was crumbly. And…it cracked. I wonder what Abbey’s recipe might have done. It makes me want to try, just to see. I loved the crust, I love the mixture of pumpkin pie with cheesecake. Stay tuned, I may bake another one sometime soon.
As I said goodbye to my friend and was reminded that cheesecake is her favorite, I wonder if there is a way I can make cream cheese from scratch in order for her to be able to make cheesecake in her country. I suggested a cheesecake with eggnog (another favorite of hers) and she was sad to think she won’t be on this side of the ocean to taste it.
Glad I stumble upon your blog. I love your beautiful blog, and a glimpse into your way of life… so different from ours in the far east!
There are so many suggestions on the Internet to prevent your cheesecake from cracking no matter the recipe you use..sometimes it works and sometimes not, but I am sure it was delicious!!I love the gingersnap crust.
FANTASTIC! Cracked or not I’d be drooling all over that.
Cheers,
*Heather*
Bummer. I wonder if it was the same recipe? And I really wonder if I have the original recipe? Hmmm. Still looks great. Thanks for the shout-out!
I’ve always thought the same thing regarding Thanksgiving! The pumpkin swirl sounds wonderful, good enough that I think I’ll bookmark the DB recipe for the coming holiday.
I love the sound of a gingerbread crust with pumpkin. I’m sure your friends enjoyed this cheesecake (even cracked!).
What a facinating blog. I’ve bookmarked it and added your feed to my RSS Reader
What a beautiful picture. I’ve never made a cheesecake before, so even a cracked one seems like a success to me. And it sound wonderful!
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