This was the dessert course (and final course) in our dinner party menu. This pumpkin cheesecake is to die for (if I do say so myself) and received rave reviews and may requests for the recipe.

Ingredients:

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
2 ¾ cups sugar
1 tsp. plus one pinch of salt
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup sour cream
1 15 oz can pure pumpkin
6 large eggs, room temperature & slightly beaten
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
2 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves
2 cups sweetened whipped cream
1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and position the rack to the center of the oven.

Brush a 10 inch springform pan with some of your melted butter. In a bowl combine your graham cracker crumbs with the rest of your melted butter, a pinch of salt and ¼ cup of your sugar. Stir together until all the crumbs are moist. Press the crumb mixture tightly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan to form the crust. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the crust and allow to cool on a rack. Once cooled wrap the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and place in the middle of a large roasting pan.

Bring to a boil one medium pot of water.

With a kitchen mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth and then add your remaining 2 ½ cups of sugar. Continue beating until the mixture is light, scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the sugar. Add the sour cream, pumpkin and eggs, allowing each to incorporate before adding the next. Once the mixture is combined add 1 tsp. of salt, vanilla and spices. Continue beating until well combined. Pour the batter into the cooled crust.

Carefully place the roasting pan containing the cheese cake onto the middle rack in the oven and pour your boiled water into the roasting pan until the water level reaches halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Be careful not to splash the pumpkin cheese cake with the water. Gently slide the rack back into the oven and bake the pumpkin cheese cake for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes or until the outside of the cheese cake has set but the middle is still slightly loose.

Once the cheese cake has finished cooking turn off the oven, open the door and allow some of the heat to escape. Close the oven door again and let the pumpkin cheese cake sit in the cooling oven for another hour. Remove the cheese cake from the oven, run a knife gently around the edges of the crust, cover with tin foil and set in the fridge to cool for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight.

Remove the pumpkin cheese cake from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Release the springform pan and remove the pumpkin cheese cake from it. Garnish with whipped cream and toasted pecans. Serve and enjoy.

Wine: Sauvignon Blanc