My recent craving for pumpkin, something a bit cheesy, nutty, oaty, and flavours of the fall like ginger and cinnamon, lead me on a hunt for the perfect pumpkin pie cheesecake recipe. I was soon overwhelmed with recipes online and in my own cookbook collection.

But for the love of a good crust I ended up with this recipe, which has a thicker crust and thinner filling ratio than your typical cheesecake; and it combines the traditional New York style cheesecake with an Italian twist from the Ricotta cheese.

The following is a marriage of my health conscious brain with my indulgent stomach, inspired by finds on Crisco is Cooking recipe and Martha Stewart Food, combined with several tweaks of my own to make my own!

TIME: 30 minutes prep. 60 minutes baking. 6 – 7 hours cooling / refrigeration. Best baked day before serving, due to cooling time, and cake-set time in fridge.

CRUST:
1/2 cup margarine
1 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 + 2 Tbsp rolled oats
1/4 + 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

Cream together margarine, water, spices, and brown sugar. Slowly add flour, oats and walnuts. Mix well. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased 9-inch spring-form pan, with a 1-inch crust wall.  Press dough to outer edges of pan, and form a mini-crust-edge. Bake in 325F oven for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

 

 

FILLING: (room temperature ingredients)
1-250g package of light cream cheese
3/4 c. Italian ricotta cheese
1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 c. pumpkin puree (canned is fine!)

In a larger mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until fully combined.

 

 

Add flour, spices, and combine. Add the eggs in one at a time, careful not to over mix – just enough to combine.

Fold in pumpkin gently, and pour mixture into prepared crust. Prepare your pan with lined foil on the outside, and set inside a large shallow roasting pan. The foil protects the spring-form pan from the boiling water you will add carefully, to half way up the spring-form pan. The boiling water helps moderate the cooking of the filling, so the eggs don’t bake too quickly.

 

 

I never trust that spring-form pans are leak proof, so here is a technique to fold the foil in a way that seals out the water during baking. While the boiling water helps keep the cake moist, you do not want water seeping into your lovely cheesecake after all the preparation work. Simply fold two pieces of foil together as if to make a foil-packet for steaming, and flatten by setting pan on top.

 

 

Bake the cheesecake until it is set but still slightly wobbly in the centre, approximately 50-60 minutes. Once the cake is done, turn off your oven and let the cake cool in the oven with the door ajar slightly, for 60 more minutes.

 

 

Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack from there. And then refrigerate at least 6 hours / overnight.  Run a knife around sides of the cake to help unmold if necessary.

 

I garnished with some toasted caramelized walnuts, but you could leave them out if you like and top with some light whipped-cream or ice vanilla ice cream. Serve and enjoy!