Pumpkin Cheesecake - Wecipe Wednesday

I type this while looking out the window at our first snow of the year.  It is a beautiful site.  Wanna see?

When Princess A woke up this morning I took her outside.  Her first words?  "What is that mommy?"  I love seeing things for the first time through her eyes.  We touched.  "It's cold mommy.  Is it rain?"  "No, baby not rain."  Daddy put some on his finger and tried to get her to taste it.  She made daddy taste it first.  Again she declared it as cold.  "Do you think it is pretty?," I asked.  "Yes, mommy, pretty!" We went inside and she watched through the window for quite a while watching the big soft flakes fall.  Although not officially winter, in my book winter has arrived!

Today I want to share a recipe with you that we tried for the first time on Thanksgiving this year.  It was also my first ever "real" cheesecake.  I had done the whipped ones before but never one that required baking.  The recipe comes from a Krogers flyer that we recieved.  I did discover that there is even more of a difference between fresh and preground spices than I thought as we had fresh allspice so I only used half of what was called for and it was still overpowering!  All in all though I really liked the finished product.  That is why the picture is of just a single slice.  Only 3 pieces were left when I realized I didn't have a picture to share!

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Ginger Crust
recipe from page 15 of Kroger  My Magazine TKRK01

Crust:

2 cups ginger cookies, ground

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 cup melted butter

Filling:

16 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

15 oz pumpkin

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix ground ginger cookies with brown sugar and ginger.  Add melted butter and blend thoroughly.  Press firmly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn oven down to 325 degrees.  Proceed to make filling.

Beat cream cheese until smooth with an electric mixer.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  In a separate bowl mix sour cream and pumpkin.  Stir in all spices and salt.  Gently stir the pumpkin mixture into the cream cheese mixture by hand.  Pour filling into crust.  Place pan on a large square of aluminum foil and wrap pan tightly with foil.  Place pan into a large roasting pan.  Fill the pan with VERY hot water (at least 1 inch up the side of the pan) to create a water bath.  Bake cheesecake for 1 hour.  Turn oven off and leave cake in oven for another hour.  Remove and chill in the fridge before serving.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Until next time,