Indulge in this Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Pecan Brittle
Silky, flavorful and perfectly sweetened, this pumpkin cheesecake captures harvest warmth. I’m not a fan of canned puree – the taste is bland and thin – so I prefer of roasting your own pumpkin. Roasting brings out its natural sweetness while evaporating excess moisture, yielding a deep, aromatic mash imparting genuine complexity. Golden nut brittle provides the final flourish: golden, nutty and offering a satisfying crisp complementing the velvety texture.
Pumpkin Cheesecake and Crunchy Pecan Topping
To make about one cup of puree, chop fresh pumpkin pieces into chunks, cook, loosely covered, at 390F cooked through but not colored. Puree using a powerful blender.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 1 hr 45 min
Cool 1 hour
Chill 6 hr+
Serves about 10 people
Base Ingredients
- spiced biscuits
- melted butter, softened, and some for coating
- a pinch of salt
Cheesecake Mixture
- full-fat cream cheese
- fine sugar
- orange zest
- 200g pumpkin puree (prepared earlier)
- cornstarch
- cinnamon spice
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- hint of cloves
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- sour cream
- vanilla
Crunchy Finish
- pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- nut pieces, in chunks
- 1 large pinch flaky sea salt
- whipping cream
Preheat your oven to 365F and lightly grease the base and sides of a 20cm round springform tin. In a food processor the biscuits into crumbs, then tip into a medium bowl. Incorporate the salty butter, stir coating the crumbs. Transfer to the greased tin, even it out, cook briefly, take out and cool.
Turn down the oven temperature to a lower temp. In the meantime, place the cheese, sweetener, and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer, mix on low speed on medium-low to a creamy texture. Add the pumpkin puree, cornflour and spices, blend on medium-low until incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in well one by one, next include the soured cream and vanilla, whip until combined.
Pour the cheesecake mixture over the set base and smooth the top using a spatula. Give it a gentle shake on a worktop to release trapped air, then cook the dessert in the middle of the oven until set until the edges are set and a soft center. Turn off the oven, keep the oven slightly open and leave the cheesecake to cool for an hour. After cooling, chill for at least six hours (or for days), until completely set.
In the meantime, prepare the brittle (up to three days ahead). Heat the oven to 210C (190C fan) and line a small oven tray with parchment. Stir together the ingredients in a small saucepan mixing on low briefly. Add in the nuts and salt, take off the stove transfer to the sheet. Bake for about eight minutes, until golden and bubbly, then remove and leave to cool. When fully hardened, break into chunks keeping in a container frozen.
Release the cake from the springform place on a serving dish. Whisk the cream to soft peaks, then add on top of the cake leaving a 3-4cm border. Add the crunchy bits on top, offering more on the side.
