Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

Two of my family's favorite things, pumpkin and ginger is all baked up into this wonderful dessert. They really do go for anything pumpkin and anything ginger, so I had to make this.

I've been meaning to make a pumpkin cheesecake for a while now, and I never get around to it because we always have pumpkin pie. This time around, I made an apple pie, so I finally got the chance to make this for Thanksgiving.

At the last minute I was almost hesitant to try this recipe. Although it has a 4 1/2 star review, there are quite a few people who mentioned this wasn't like cheesecake, or there wasn't enough pumpkin flavor, or it was bland altogether. After reading a few reviews, I decided to take matters in my own hands and adjust accordingly. In the end, I doubled the amount of total spices buy subbing with my homemade pumpkin pie mix, and I used a whole can of pumpkin, instead of the one cup it originally called for.

I think my changes made all the difference. There was definitely a more prominent pumpkin flavor and just enough spice. In the end this came out beautifully, and despite the cracks, it tasted great.

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Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake
adapted from allrecipes

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 8 from this recipe)
1/2 heaping cup pecans halves
1/3 cup butter, melted

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 15oz can of pure pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). In a food processor using the chopping blade, mix together the gingersnap cookies and pecans. Pulse to form crumbs. Stream in the butter and pulse to combine. Alternatively, if you don't have a food processor, you can crush the cookies in a heavy duty zip top bag, add finely chopped pecans and butter to form a crust. Press crust into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice into the remaining mixture in the bowl.

Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top. Tap the bowl lightly to combine the two batters. Swirl with a knife or toothpick to create a marbled effect.

Place pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn off oven and let cool in the oven for 30 minutes with the door propped open with a wooden spoon. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to fully cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

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Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Oreos and cheesecake. What could be more decadent? I decided to make these brownie bars for our Christmas dessert. It was sort of similar to the pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars that I liked so much, so I figured, why not with chocolate and Oreos! These were definitely dense and oh so decadent.

I wasn’t sure what dark cocoa powder was, so I assumed it was dutch process cocoa. I reduced this by 1/4 cup, since I thought 1/2 cup was a bit much. I’ve had recipes that call for 1 TBSP and it still comes out very chocolaty. I also reduced it because Jen mentioned the batter seemed thick. I was thinking to myself as I was pouring, OK, I guess the batter doesn’t seem so thick, since I reduced the amount of cocoa powder. That’s when it dawned on me that the Oreos weren’t in there!! The bag of chopped Oreos I had ready for the batter was still sitting there on the counter, staring me in the face! I ended pouring it over the mixture and mixing it in as best as I can. That’s why mine isn’t nicely layered like the source recipe.

Despite the mishaps, it still came together very nicely. Definitely worth trying again, as long as I remember to add the Oreos!

Oreo Cheesecake Bars
adapted from: Beantown Baker

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup dutch process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies (about one row from a package)

directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until combined and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Whisk in sugar and bring to a boil, whisking frequently; boil for 1 minute. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract, until well combined, about 1 minute.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, until combined. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, followed by Oreo cookies.

Spread half of brownie batter into baking dish, followed by cream cheese layer; dot the top with remaining brownie batter, and spread evenly, as best as you can. Run a knife through batter to make "swirls".

Bake for 23-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out semi clean (there will be residue from the melted cookies).

Cool on a wire rack to room temperature before slicing. For easier slicing, try freezing the brownies for 30-60 minutes.

Makes about 16 squares (more or less depending on how big you want to cut them)

Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Although it’s now officially winter, I’ve still had pumpkin and the fall spices on my mind. When my sister came over to make treats for coworkers for the holidays, she came armed with this recipe in mind. She must have read my mind! I still had one lone can of pumpkin in my pantry from stocking up last year. I wonder if I should stock up for next year now! :)

This recipe turned out very well. The ratio of spices gave it a nice kick. The bottom was a nice layer of pumpkin spice cake with a layer of cream cheese on top. I guess it’s a cheesecake bar, since the ingredients for the cream cheese layer is everything I would add in a cheesecake.

I’ve made adjustments to the original recipe since the original recipe wouldn’t be clear for beginners. We both read the recipe over many times and we almost made mistakes since it didn’t really call to divide anything in the ingredients list. I’ve separated the ingredients for the pumpkin cake part and the cream cheese mixture below. In the end, I also cut it into 48 pieces instead of the original 24. Since we were sharing other treats as well, a little taste was all you need of this. I think the smaller size is what most people can eat anyway. These fared very well when I brought them to work.

Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
adapted from: Sunset via myrecipes.com

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour
1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
1  teaspoon  baking soda
1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
1/2  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
6  tablespoons  butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2  cups  sugar
2 large eggs
1  cup  pure pumpkin puree
1/3 cup water

cream cheese mixture:
1  package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg.

In an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir or beat the dry ingredients into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.

Beat  cream cheese, egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at medium speed until smooth.

Drop tablespoon dollops of cream cheese mixture evenly spaced over the batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.

Bake in a oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars. (I actually cut it into 48 and they were still good sized for me)

Store in fridge for up to 3 days.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Happy Birthday, Sis!

A few months ago, I asked my sister what birthday cake she wanted. She told me mango cheesecake. One, I hate mangoes; two, are mangoes even in season in the middle of December? Well, she said didn’t really have a preference, as long as it was cheesecake. I bookmarked this recipe a while ago, but I never got around to making it (like the other recipes I have flagged and bookmarked). It wasn’t until Annie had a recap post of holiday treats that I decided to make this once and for all.

I went to the supermarket the day before to pick up the remaining ingredients for baking. While I was about to open the door to the house, I realized I forgot the chocolate graham crackers! I didn’t want to go back to the store, so I thought about using the honey grahams I had in the pantry. In the end, I ended up running an errand near the supermarket so I went to pick up some crackers. They were not on sale…and it was too expensive at regular price…especially since I was only using 1/3 of a box. I bought a package of chocolate sandwich cookies since they were on sale. I remember Annie used chocolate sandwich cookies for the crust, and I also did that for the chocolate marble cheesecake I made a while, back so I knew it would work.

After mixing everything, I noticed that the batter for this cheesecake was a little bit runny. It could have been because I was not paying attention to the amount of buttermilk that was supposed to be added. I ended up adding 1 full cup of buttermilk so I tried to add 2 tablespoons of flour to try to thicken it up. There seemed to be a lot of batter, and when it was done baking, the cake rose up past the rim (but didn’t spill). Once it cooled down, it sunk back down.

After baking, I had to run, so I left it in the oven for a few hours to cool down, with a wooden spoon propping the oven door open. It still cracked (as in Grand Canyon crack!), as did my last cheesecake. Good thing there was frosting going over it!! I’m wondering if it was because I used my 10-inch pan for this again, since the 9-inch one I ordered didn’t arrive in time. Nonetheless, this still came out great, even though I made some mistakes. If I make this again, I’m definitely going to pay attention!

Red Velvet Cheesecake
adapted from: Southern Living, via Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

 printable recipe

ingredients:
18 chocolate sandwich cookies, crumbled
3 TBSP  butter, melted

cake:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2  cups  granulated sugar
4  large eggs, lightly beaten
3  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa
1  cup  sour cream
1/2  cup  whole buttermilk
2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
1  teaspoon  distilled white vinegar
2  (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring

frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4  cup  butter, softened
1  cup  powdered sugar
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Garnish: fresh mint sprigs (optional)

directions:
Stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter, press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.

Beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Beat remaining 4 oz cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of spring form pan. Garnish, if desired.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

I’m a bit late, but hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving holiday! I’ve been crazed lately and my time in the kitchen has been limited. You can tell with the lack of posts in my blog, but I’m back (sort of). I’m off on staycation this week, so I will have some time to update. My sister is also coming over sometime next weekend or the following to bake cookies. I’m already looking up recipes.

There hasn’t been many blog worthy recipes made in my kitchen lately, so the next few posts will be all about Thanksgiving.

My sister and I were thinking up desserts to make for Thanksgiving. I knew pumpkin pie would be one of them, but I was still pondering the other. The thought of cheesecake always comes up, but I didn’t want to make a pumpkin cheesecake when there was another pumpkin dessert already. Last year, my sister made tiramisu and I made a New York Cheesecake. Then I thought of combining them together. Hey, why not. I wasn’t sure if it had been done before, but I ended up finding a good one.

My company was also looking for volunteers to bring dishes for our company potluck, so it was a great way to try this out first. Of course also to use up ingredients as well, since my tub of mascarpone cheese was double the amount I needed for 1 cheesecake.

I made this bite sized version for work and it was a big hit. The whole recipe made 72 little bite sized servings.

Right before serving these, I added some unsweetened cocoa powder on top.

For Thanksgiving day, I made it in my 10” springform pan. The recipe called for an 8 or 9” springform, but I only have a 10”. The baking time called for 40-45 minutes, and I checked at 35 minutes, but it still seemed runny. I left it in for the 45 minutes and a giant crack formed on the top of my cake.

I think 40 minutes would have been sufficient. To cover it up, I whipped up a cup of heavy whipping cream for a few seconds in my KA mixer, spread it on top and shaved some chocolate on top.

As for the ingredient alterations, I couldn’t find a 12 oz package of ladyfingers, but the 7 oz package I had was more than enough for the crust. I also used brewed espresso instead of coffee liqueur. I adjusted the amount of coffee needed based on the alterations as well.

Tiramisu Cheesecake
adapted from: allrecipes.com
printable recipe

ingredients:
1 (7 ounce) package ladyfingers 
3 tablespoons butter, melted 
7 tablespoons brewed espresso, divided (more or less according to your taste)
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate or unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place a pan of water on the bottom of oven.

Crush the package of ladyfingers to fine crumbs (I used my food processor for this). Mix the melted butter into the crumbs. Moisten with 3 tablespoons of the coffee. Press into an 8 or 9 inch springform pan.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar until very smooth. Add 4 tablespoons coffee, and mix. Add the eggs and the flour; mix SLOWLY until just smooth. The consistency of the mascarpone can vary. If the cheesecake batter is too thick, add a little cream. Do not overmix at this point. Pour batter into crust.

Place pan on middle rack of oven. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until just set. Open oven door, and turn off the heat. Leave cake to cool in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let it finish cooling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Right before serving, grate the semi-sweet chocolate overtop.

To make bite sized versions:

Preheat oven to 325° F. No water bath is needed for this. Line a mini muffin tin with paper liners.

Prepare crust as directed. Measure 1 tsp of the crust into each cup.

Prepare batter as directed. Using a cookie scoop, measure about 1 TBSP batter into each cup. Lightly tap  the pan on the counter to even out the batter in each cup. I will be filled to the top, but it’s ok.

Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on wire racks for 10 minutes before removing. Use the back of a spoon to pop them out of the cups.

Makes 72 mini bite sized cheesecakes.

Product Review: Philadelphia Key Lime Cheesecake Filling

I’ve never been able to find key limes anywhere around my area. I’ve tasted authentic key lime pie from Florida, and it is one of my favorite pies. I’ve never made it myself since I can’t find key limes anywhere.

I saw this in the cream cheese section at my supermarket and I decided to try it. It was on sale, and I had a coupon in hand, ready to purchase.

I brought this over to my parent’s place so I can share. There were mixed reviews. Too sour, too sweet, tasted like plastic.

I agree, it’s not the best tasting thing in the world, however it comes close. I guess since I love tart things, it tasted fine to me.

I made it semi-homemade by making my own graham cracker crust. You can find the recipe here.

I baked the crust in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes. Let it cool, then added the filling.

Spread it into the pan and serve or put in fridge to keep cool.

Marbled White Chocolate Cheesecake

Ok, this post is long overdue. Mainly because of the lack of a picture.

I made this cheesecake for a Christmas celebration over at a friends’ place. It is now almost mid-January and I still haven’t posted this. On Christmas day, we rushed out of the house with presents and cake in tow, and of course I forgot to bring my camera along. Of course, Gary hates it when I go back home to pick up something I forget…usually it’s my phone, so I didn’t bother. Someone else was bound to have a camera. I’ll just use theirs. I still haven’t gotten the picture yet. It’s no biggie. I’ll just use Kraft one as a place holder for now. Once I get it, it will be updated.

This was the 2nd cheesecake I have attempted to make. It was good, but not as creamy as I hoped. It could have also been the quality of chocolate I used, but everybody else seemed to enjoy it.

 updated 12/9/09 with my own picture!

Marbled White Chocolate Cheesecake
Adapted from: Kraft

Ingredients:
18 chocolate Oreo cookies, crushed
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted (I used 2 tablespoons melted semi-sweet morsels)
1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S White Chocolate, melted (I used 1 bag of white chocolate morsels)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 325°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix crushed wafers and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.

2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Remove 1 cup of the cream cheese mixture; place in small bowl. Add melted semi-sweet chocolate; stir until well blended. Add melted white chocolate to remaining cream cheese mixture; mix well. Spoon semi-sweet and white chocolate mixtures alternately over crust. Swirl with knife to marbleize.

3. Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Run small knife or spatula around side of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Garnish as desired. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

I used a 10” springform pan because that’s the only size I have. I baked it for 35 minutes and left it in the oven to set for a couple of hours before putting it in the fridge. Next time if I’m using a 10” pan, I will bake it for less time and let it finish setting in the oven.

New York Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping

Adapted from: Recipezaar
Made by: Cathy
Also for: Local Eats

A couple of months ago, my cousins bought an Italian cheesecake for someones birthday. As we took a bite into it, it clearly wasn't as good as a classic New York Cheesecake. I told them I will make them a cheesecake to show them what a REAL cheesecake is!

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (this is one package from a 4 pack of graham crackers)
4 tablespoons butter, melted or softened
1 tablespoon sugar

For the filling:
4 8oz packages cream cheese
2 eggs
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the topping:
1 pint fresh strawberries, or 1 bag frozen
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. To make the crust, mix graham crackers crumbs, butter, and sugar in bowl.
3. Press mixture in bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

4. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar for 2 minutes.
5. Add eggs and vanilla to mixture and mix until well blended.
6. Then stir or fold in sour cream.


7. Pour mixture in crust filled pan. Lightly tap the pan on the table to even out the batter. Smooth out with the back of a spoon or a spatula.
8. Bake for 10 minutes at 450°, then reduce to 200° and continue to bake for 45 minutes.
9. Turn off the oven, open the door slightly, and leave in oven for at least 2 hours.
10. Transfer pan to refrigerator and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

Topping recipe adapted from here:
1. Combine all ingredients and cook for 5 minutes under medium heat, stir well.
2. Using a masher or a fork, mash up about 2/3 of the strawberries.
3. Continue to cook on medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring well.
4. Refrigerate with the cheesecake until ready to serve.


The sides of the cake have already loosened from the pan since the night before. It has a nice indentation to put the topping. The cake is also firm to the touch.



Here is the finished piece with the fruit on top.


It's a work of art! It was very tasty. I had rave reviews, and the best part - it was the first cheesecake I've ever made!