The Cheesecake Factorys Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake Food

ALMOST-FAMOUS PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
• Brush a 10-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir the remaining butter with the crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the springform pan with foil and place in a roasting pan.
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream, then add the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt and the spices and beat until just combined. Pour into the cooled crust.
• Gently place the roasting pan in the oven (don't pull the rack out) and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the door briefly to let out some heat. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from the roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Bring the cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove the springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of the whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with the toasted pecans.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE (A CHEESECAKE FACTORY COPYCAT)

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
• Brush a 10 inch springform pan with some of the butter;stir remaining butter into graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 cup sugar and pinch salt.
• Press mixture into bottom and up sides of pan , packing it tightly and evenly.
• Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool on rack, then wrap outside of springform pan with heavy duty foil and place in a roasting pan.
• Bring a medium pot of water to boil.
• Meanwhile beat cream cheese with a mixer until smooth; add remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down sides of bowl and beaters as needed.
• Beat in the sour cream, then add pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and beat until just combined; pour into cooled crust.
• Without pulling rack out, gently place roasting pan in oven and pour boiling water into roasting pan until it comes about halfway up side of springform pan.
• Bake until outside of cheesecake sets but center is still loose, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Turn off oven and open door briefly to let out some heat.
• Leave cheesecake in oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from roasting pan and cool on a rack.
• Run a knife around edges of springform pan, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Bring cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
• Unlock and remove springform ring.
• To finish, place a dollop of whipped cream on each slice and sprinkile with toasted pecans.

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY'S PUMPKIN GINGER CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees (300 degrees for convection-bake oven).
• Prepare a 10-inch springform pan.
• To make the crust; in a bowl place the melted butter with graham cracker crumbs, crushed gingersnaps, brown sugar and cinnamon; mix with a fork until combined.
• Line bottom and side with parchment paper or wax paper, then spray with nonstick spray.
• Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
• For the filling; pour the whipping cream into a medium bowl and beat just until soft peaks form; refrigerate until ready to use.
• In a bowl beat the cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add in sugar, beating well until combined.
• Add in eggs one at a time and beat the mixture until fluffy.
• Stir in pumpkin puree, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
• Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and lightly whisk to reblend.
• Using a spatula or a flat spoon fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese-pumpkin mixture.
• Pour the mixture into preapred crust.
• Wrap one continuous sheet of heavy foil around the springform pan then press firmly against the pan.
• Place the wrapped pan in a baking pan and fill with hot water to halfway up the spring form pan.
• Bake for 60-70 minutes.
• Cool the cheesecake to room temperature, the chill for at least 5 hours or until the cake is thoroughly chilled.
• Remove the sides of the springform pan.
• Just before serving place the pecan halves on top of the cheescake in a ring around the edges.

PUMPKIN GINGERSNAP CHEESECAKE WITH SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• For the pumpkin gingersnap cheesecake: In a food processor or blender, grind the gingersnaps until fine. Pour into a bowl and stir in the pecans, melted butter, brown sugar and salt. Press into the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make the filling, beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer until soft, scraping the sides once. Mix in the pumpkin, scraping the sides once or twice. Add the eggs 1 at a time, allowing them to mix in, then add the sour cream and mix. With the mixer on low, add the granulated sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. Thoroughly scrape the bowl and mix to ensure everything is smooth and mixed in.
• Pour the filling into the pan, smoothing the top. Set the pan on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is no longer soupy but still slightly jiggly, about 50 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the door just a hair and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for 15 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 30 minutes, then cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• For the salted caramel sauce: Mix the brown sugar, heavy cream, butter, vanilla and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat. Cook, while whisking gently, until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate until needed. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Slice the cheesecake and top with the salted caramel sauce, whipped cream and chopped pecans.

PUMPKIN GINGER CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Crust:.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F Lightly butter pie plate.
• Stir together all ingredients in a bowl and press evenly on bottom and up side of pie plate. Bake until crisp, 12 to 15 minutes, then cool on a rack to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
• Filling.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pulse sugar and ginger in a food processor until ginger is finely chopped, then add cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Add eggs, milk, flour, nutmeg, and salt and pulse until just combined.
• Reserve 2/3 cup cream cheese mixture in a glass measure. Whisk together remaining 1 1/3 cups cream cheese mixture and pumpkin in a large bowl until combined.
• Pour pumpkin mixture into gingersnap crumb crust. Stir reserved cream cheese mixture (in glass measure) and drizzle decoratively over top of pumpkin mixture, then, if desired, swirl with back of a spoon. Put pie on a baking sheet and bake until center is just set, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, then chill, loosely covered with foil, at least 4 hours. If necessary, very gently blot any moisture from surface with paper towels before serving.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE (INCLUDING WATER BATH INSTRUCTIONS)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• *************Crust************.
• Combine the graham cracker crumbs with 1 Tablespoon of sugar and then drizzle the melted butter over the top.
• Mix this together well enough to cover all of the crumbs with the butter. Do not let it turn into a paste.
• Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the springform pan. It's ok if it doesn't go all the way up the sides. You want part of the cheesecake to extend above the crust.
• Bake for 5 minutes, then chill it in a refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
• **************Filling*************.
• The cream cheese should be at room temperature before you begin mixing, or you'll end up with lumps in your cheesecake. Using cold cream cheese also leads to overbeating--whipping too much air into the batter--which forms unattractive air bubbles on the surface of the cake. Reduced fat and nonfat cream cheeses contain fillers that might prevent the cheesecake from setting properly. Never substitute whipped cream cheese for the solid block.
• Combine the softened cream cheese 1 C sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix the cream cheese and sugar by itself until it's smooth and light, before adding any other ingredients. If you end up with lumps in your batter, run the mixture through a sieve or give it a quick spin in the food processor and you'll have silky smooth results. Mix until smooth using an electric mixer (remove the lumps but don't over-mix). Be sure to mix your cheesecake batter well, eliminating all possible lumps in the cream cheese BEFORE you add the eggs. It is the eggs that will hold air in the batter, so add them last, and mix as little as possible once they are in the mix.
• Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and continue beating until smooth and creamy.
• Lightly beat room temp eggs and add to batter mixture, and blend well, do not over whip as adding eggs and over mixing can add air to the mixture which will want to escape while baking and create a crack.
• Pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust.
• Note: Cheesecake is a custard at heart. It's delicate, so you want to bake it slowly and evenly without browning the top. The most effective way to do this is to bake it in a water bath. Since water evaporates at the boiling point, the water bath will never get hotter than 212 degrees F (100 degrees C), no matter what the oven temperature. This means that the outer edge of your cheesecake won't bake faster than the center, which can cause it to soufflé, sink, and crack. (see water bath instructions below).
• Bake in water bath for 60-70 minutes. Don't over bake the cheesecake. When perfectly done, there will still be a two to three-inch wobbly spot in the middle of the cheesecake; the texture will smooth out as it cools.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature.
• When the cheesecake has come to room temperature, put it into the refrigerator.
• When the cheesecake has chilled or you've lost all will-power, release the spring and remove the sides of the pan.
• **********Water Bath Instructions**************.
• To prevent water from seeping into the removable bottom of the springform pan, wrap aluminum foil completely around the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan in a criss-cross pattern. Or another method is to place a roasting bag around pan (thanks Laura!). Place the cheesecake into a jellyroll pan (or any baking pan with sides) and place the pans into the oven. I use a disposable foil roasting pan. Use a teakettle to fill the outer pan with hot water. Cheesecakes usually bake for about 1½ hours, so check the bath after the first hour and refill if necessary.
• Because cheesecake is very soft, it can be difficult to judge when it is done cooking. One way to check for doneness is to take the cake's internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer. The ideal temperature for a cheesecake is around 160 to 165 degrees F (70 to 72 degrees C). You can also insert a small knife into the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Some bakers turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in it for an additional hour to ensure that it sets completely.
• Once the cheesecake has been removed from the oven, it needs to chill thoroughly--preferably overnight. The cake will have pulled away the edges of the pan. Carefully run a small knife around the edge of the pan to loosen any bits that might stick to the pan.
• Chill overnight for best results.
• For a seamless look, you can smooth the sides of the cheesecake with a hot, wet knife.