Marbled Pumpkin cheesecake w/brownie crust

[Laurielee]

All I can say for this recipe is WOW. I thought I got it off the BB but couldnt find it. But just had to share (It is not light but could be modified to make it much lighter.

CRUST
4 T butter
2 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/4 Csugar
one egg - lightly beaten
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 finely chopped walnuts

Cheesecake

4 oz bittersweet chocolate - chopped
1 1/2 # cream cheese softened
1 C sugar
4 large eggs room temp
1 1/2 T cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
2C canned pumpkin puree ( 1#)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I used ground)
pinch of ground cloves

1. Make crust preheat oven to 325 - lightly butter 9 inch springform pan. In med suacepan, melt butter with choco over low heat stirring constantly. remove from heat and let cool slightly, then stire in surgar and lightly beaten egg until blended.

In a small bowl, whisk flour with the baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to melted chocoloate. stir in walnuts. Spread batter in pan and smooth surface with spatula. Bake for 10 minutes or until risen and dry to touch. Cool completely. Wrap outside of pan with a large sheet of foil.

2. Makde cheescake - In a medium glass bowl, melt chocolate in a microwave oven on high for about a minute, stirring half way thru. In a large bowl using electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Add egss one at at time, beating weel between additions. Beat in cornstarch and vanilla. Add 1 C cheesecake mixture to melted chocolate, stire untel well blended. Beat in pumpkin puree cinnamon nutmeg and cloves into remaining cheesecake batter.

3. Pour 3/4 pumpkin mixture over brownie crust. Pour chocolate mixture over cheesecake mixture. If chocolate mixture is too thick to pour easily, het in microwave ro 10 seconds. Spoon remaining pumpkin mixture over top of chocholate mixture. use a table knife to make a few swirls. Do not overswirl.

4. set the pan in a medium roasting pan. Add enough hot water to pan to reach halfway up side of springform pan. bake the cheesecake in the hotwater bath in the center of the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until it is form around the edges but slightly jiggly in center. Turn oven off, prop oven door open several inches and let the cheesecake stand in the water bath for 1 hour or until it is completely set.

5. Remove the pan from the water and refrigerate intil throughly chilled at leat 4 hours or overnight. Remove foil and springform ring from the cheesecake. Carefully transfer cheesecake to platter and cut in wedges

Can be refrigerated in the srpingform pan for up to 4 days.

NOTE: Mine was almost done cooking at one hour and I only let it sit in the water bath for 15 minutes and it was perfect. SO the cooking time needs to be watched closely.


Laurie

[Vicanddi]

Laurie, that sounds to-die-for! My DH's fav dessert is cheesecake, so I try to have some wonderful recipes for him. I have it printing out and will probably make for Thanksgiving.
Thanks for sharing!

[Leonard]

This cheesecake recipe sounds wonderful! I've been asked to make some sort of Pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving this year. I would like to try your recipe in the next week or so. Can you tell me, does it have a creamy texture or is it a heavier cake?? The combination of cheecake with the brownie crust sounds divine!

[Laurielee]

leonard - it has the texture just like regular cheesecake. And the added bonus of the brownie crust with th walnuts is yummy!

Laurie

[lollipop79]

I would love to make this, however, I do not have a springform pan. Is there a substitute I could use, maybe a pie plate?

[MKSquared]

Lollipop, a pie plate won't work for a cheesecake - there's way too much stuff to fit in a pie plate. Maybe you have a really deep cake pan? The cheesecake won't come out nicely, but hopefully it should still taste as good.

[lollipop79]

Thanks, maybe I will just go and buy a springform pan, are they expensive??

[CompassRose]

A pie plate would probably be too shallow. You can, however, make cheesecake in a regular cake pan. The trick is popping it out...

If you are deft and VERY VERY CAREFUL, you can flip the cheesecake out onto a heavy piece of cardboard, or one of those cake boards, covered with plastic wrap, then quickly reverse it again onto a serving plate. I have done it. Barring accident or disaster (as long as the cake is fully CHILLED) it doesn't really mar the top much, and you can hide dings with whipped cream... or press some nuts or crumbs into the side, whatever.

(This works better with a Kitchen Assistant... draft your significant other, if he's coordinated.)

Or you can just cut the cake in the cake pan, and not do the big Show and Tell... bring it in already plated. This will probably result in a spoiled first slice (mmm! breakfast!) and if you have a nonstick cake pan, you will want to line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper and be careful with the tip of the knife. Not a problem with cheesecake, though.

Note the advantages, as well -- no foil, and hence no chances of the foil perhaps springing a teeny leak and swamping your cake sneakily from below in the water bath (happened once to me -- sob).

[MKSquared]

Originally posted by lollipop79
Thanks, maybe I will just go and buy a springform pan, are they expensive??

My springform pans weren't expensive at all - but I went the cheapie Wal-Mart route and bought the set of 3 for $10 or something like that. They're not the highest quality, but I don't use them all that often. I haven't had problems with them thus far.

Or, you could follow CompassRose's instructions and use a deep cake pan. (I say deep because my cake pans couldn't hold a recipe like this - they're nearly as shallow as a pie plate.)