Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Caramel Sauce and Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream

As I've said before, I absolutely despise Pumpkin Pie. This is terribly odd as I LOVE everything else pumpkin. Anyways, because of this hatred, every year for Thanksgiving I make a dessert that includes pumpkin, but is not a pumpkin pie. Last year I made a Pumpkin Banana Cream Pie that was positively scrumptious, but this year's pumpkin pie substitute was, dare I say, TWICE as good!

This cheesecake filling was luxuriously creamy with hints of spice throughout. I've left the whipped cream topping unsweetned as I think you will agree that the cheesecake and caramel are plenty sweet enough and the slight tang that the creme fraiche adds is a delightful compliment.

My two absolute favorite parts of this cheesecake were the crust, which was totally awesome with the mixture of the nutty pecans and gingersnap cookies, and the maple caramel sauce which I have to refrain from drinking straight out of the squeeze-bottle, and which I can say from experience is AWESOME when heated up and drizzled over ice cream (by the way, homemade vanilla ice cream post is coming in the near future!).

I would have loved to get some pictures of slices of this cheesecake but unfortunately Mikey and I were not given much time to take pictures as everyone was ready to dig in!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

crust:

• 1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans, toasted
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

filling:

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1-1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 large eggs

for crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, fine grind the ground cookies, toasted pecans, and brown sugar. Add in the melted butter and whir to combine.
3. Press the crust onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2-3 inch sides.
4. Bake for 8 minutes.

for filling:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and creamy. Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture and do with it what you will. (The original recipe uses this as a topping but instead I used the creme fraiche whipped cream.)
2. Add in the pumpkin, whipping cream, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Beat until well combined. Add in the eggs 1 at a time, beating until just incorporated after each addition.
3. Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan and fill with cheesecake filling. Place the roasting pan in the oven and fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come about halfway up the sides of the springform pan (it's much easier to fill it with water when it's already in the oven).
4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes, until the top is set but the cheesecake still jiggles when lightly shaken. Refrigerate overnight.
5. To serve, spread the Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream (recipe below) over the top of the cheesecake and top with drizzles of the Maple Caramel Sauce (recipe below). Serve with extra caramel on the side.

Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Chill the bowl and whisk attachment of an electric mixer for at least 15 minutes before making whipped cream.
2. In the cold bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the creme fraiche and whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

Maple Caramel Sauce

recipe from here

ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp maple flavoring

1. Combine the cream, sugar, and syrup in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is caramel-colored and reduced to 1 3/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. (Don't be alarmed in the mixture bubbles up. Stir it and it will subside. If it gets too high you can turn down the heat until it subsides.)
3. Stir in the maple flavoring. Cool slightly, cover, and chill.

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Caramel

Let me start off by saying that this is possibly the best thing I have ever made.


A couple nights ago, we were invited to a grill-out at Mikey's parents' home, and Amy (his mom) asked if I could possibly bring a salad and dessert. You'll see the salad later, but this is the dessert I decided on- Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Caramel.
Now, I had never actually made cheesecake before, so it probably wasn't the best idea to try for the first time when I need to bring dessert to a dinner party with no back-up plan, but that's just how I roll :D. For never having made this, I can honestly say that it turned out next to perfect. It was that good.
The cheesecake filling itself was creamy, yet light due to the mascarpone, and the salty cashew crust complimented it so gorgeously. The pinch of ginger in the crust shined through and added an intriguing aftertaste that had everybody asking, "What is that?" 


The real star of the show, in my opinion, was the caramel. Oh. My. Gosh. It was silky and sweet but not too sweet, and basically you could drizzle it on your shoe and I think it'd taste good. The original recipe had a separate recipe for a passionfruit caramel, but I didn't appreciate that it used passion fruit juice cocktail and corn syrup so I made my own from an adaptation of a random recipe for blood orange caramel (which I think would also be awesome and need to try ASAP).


This cheesecake was pretty much the ultimate ending to a great cook-out, and certainly had everyone talking. Mikey, who doesn't even like cheesecake mind you, went back for a second slice which should tell you something right there :). I highly recommend this recipe for your next gathering; trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cheesecake

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

crust:

• 3/4 cup salted roasted cashews
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg yolk

filling:

• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature (I used one package of regular and one of Neufchatel which just has 1/3 less fat)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise
• 2 8-ounce containers mascarpone cheese
• 1/2-1/3 cup creme fraiche
• 4 large eggs

other:

• passion fruit caramel (recipe below)
• tropical fruits, to decorate (I used 2-3 sliced kiwi)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-ince sides with 2 layers of tin foil. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, combine the cashews and brown sugar and finely grind. Add in the flour, salt, and spice and blend for about 5 seconds. Add in the butter, slowly, and blend until mixture is a coarse meal. Add in the egg yolk and pulse until moist clumps form.
3. Press the dough into the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides of the pan. Pierce the crust all over with a fork and bake for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool crust but maintain the oven temperature.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and salt. Scrape in the seeds of the vanilla bean and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add in the mascarpone and creme fraiche and beat at low speed just until blended, scarping down the sides of the bowl. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.
5. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan and fill with cheesecake filling. Place the roasting pan in the oven and fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come about halfway up the sides of the springform pan (it's much easier to fill it with water when it's already in the oven). Cover the top of the springform pan with foil.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, and then check of the cheesecake, lifting the foil. Re-cover and bake for another 30 minutes and then check on it again. Continue to do this until cake is loosely set but jiggles all over when the pan is gently shaken. Mine cooked for about 2 hours total.
7. When done, remove the springform pan from the water and set on a rack to cool for an hour. Refrigerate, uncovered until cold, at least 6 hours. (I made mine a day ahead and just kept it in the fridge.)
8. To serve, cut around the sides of the pan with a knife and then remove sides of pan. Decorate with passion fruit caramel and sliced tropical fruit. Cut into wedges and serve with more caramel.

Passion Fruit Caramel

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

• 2 cups passion fruit juice (I used this one)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar

1. Bring the passionfruit juice to a simmer over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. Cook for about 20 minutes, until reduced to about a 1/4 cup. Strain the reduced juice through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add the cream, stir, and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in the sugar and continue to cook, stirring almost constantly, until the sugar is lightly caramelized (about 5 minutes). Add in the juice/cream mixture and cook for about 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Teeny Tiny Dark Chocolate Cheesecakes with Cajeta and Raspberries

These are the adorable little cheesecakes that I made to go with my cute baby quiches for my boyfriend's curling team.

I used the exact same Sable & Rosenfeld Party Cups (by the way I bought them from Pasta & Co.) that I used for the quiches (they are quite versatile!). One of their suggestions for what to do with the little cups was mini chocolate cheesecakes. I thought that would be adorable but I wanted them to be a bit more special than that. I brainstormed a few ideas in my head- white chocolate drizzled on top? fruit? caramel? Then I thought, hey, how about cajeta instead of caramel? Cajeta is basically a goat's milk dulce de leche with a unique twang to it. It is ammmmaaazzing! I've made it multiple times since it's great drizzled over tart frozen yogurt, as well as a staple for these pretty Chocolate-Covered Peanut Cajeta Cups and my Chocolate Turtle Cookies.

A raspberry garnish finished off the little cakelettes. They turned out really well! These bite-sized desserts were a great alternative to the traditional rice krispie treats and box-mix brownies that littered the buffet table, and were second to go only to my Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies :)!

Teeny Tiny Dark Chocolate Cheesecakes with Cajeta and Raspberries

filling recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

• as many little cups as your heart desires (I used about 2 dozen and had a ton of extra filling- which isn't a bad thing!)
• 5 ounces dark chocolate
• 2 (4 ounce) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature (I used Neufchatel)
• 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch-processed)
• 2 large eggs
• cajeta, at room temperature (seriously, make the whole batch- you won't be sad about having extra!)
• raspberries, sliced in half

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Set the little cups out on baking sheets and set aside.
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each to see if the chocolate is melted. Set aside.
3. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add in the melted chocolate and mix to combine.
4. Spoon about a teaspoon of the cheesecake mixture into each cup. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until set.
5. Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 1/2 an hour and then top each with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cajeta and 1/2 a raspberry. Pop them back in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

By the way, I have NO idea why my links are a different color than usual. Does anyone else have this problem with Blogger/ do you know how to fix it? Thanks!

Cheesecake Brownies

I know, I have been doing a lot of baking and not much cooking of meals lately. Hopefully, that will change after this week is over as I have been working a ton this week.

These Cheesecake Brownies are addictingly delicious, and, as Deb over at Smitten Kitchen states, even better when eaten nice and cold out of the fridge. They are super easy and there is a pretty good chance you have all of the ingredients on hand if you bake a bunch (I did, minus the unsweetened chocolate for which I substituted semisweet chocolate and scaled down the sugar).

Mine didn't turn out too swirly, but they sure tasted wonderful!

Cheesecake Brownies

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

brownie batter:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

cheesecake batter:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softend at room temperature (I used Neufchatel which has 1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

other:

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan.
2. Heat the butter and chopped chocolate either in the microwave (checking every 30 seconds), in a double boiler, or in a saucepan over low heat. When just melted, whisk in 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Whisk in flour until just combined and pour into baking pan.
3. Whisk cheesecake batter ingredients together and spread over brownie batter. Using a butter knife, swirl the cheesecake batter into the brownie batter. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
4. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the edges are slightly puffed and the center is set.
5. Let brownies cool to room temperature or chill in the fridge before slicing.