Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce
Monday, October 6, 2008 at 5:48PM 
;)
Ingredients
Serves 10
For the Crust:
12 oz graham crackers crumbs
8 Tablespoons butter – melted
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
3-table spoons sugar
10-inch spring form pan
For the cheesecake
3 (8oz) packages of cream cheese – room temp – I used a combo of full, 1/3 and no fat – one of each (trying to cut down on the absurdity of zipper popping calories)
5 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1-cup evaporated milk
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1-teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the cheesecake topping
32 oz of sour cream (I used light, keeping in mind the zipper popping)
1-teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
For the caramel sauce
1-cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ cup whipping cream
1-tablespoon butter
Adjust a rack to the middle and preheat oven to 350 ° F.
Make the crust: In a food processor pulse the graham crackers until fine, add the cinnamon, ginger and sugar, pulse and with the machine running add melted butter. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch spring form pan. Turn out the graham cracker mixture into pan and press the crumbs up the sides and evenly over the bottom of the pan using your fingers and knuckles at the bottom edge. Make sure there are no gaps that would allow any filling to leak through. Bake the empty crust for 10 minutes and aromatic.
Make the filling: I did this in two stages. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy (medium speed) add 3 eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add ¾ cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl whisk pumpkin, ¾ cup of sugar, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, 2 eggs and evaporated milk. Whisk until combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the cream cheese and beat until incorporated and uniform in color. Pour into prepared pan and bake until the edges are set but middle remains slightly wobbly. About 1 hour. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of pan to help prevent cracking.
In a bowl combine sour cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla and two tablespoons of sugar. Drop topping on top of cheesecake and return to oven, baking a further 10 minutes.
Let cake cool completely then refrigerate.
Make the caramel:
Combine 1 cup of sugar and ¼ of water, swirl pan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Watch the mixture like a hawk since when it begins to turn (which feels like an eternity) it does it quickly. When it is deep amber remove from heat and carefully add the cream whisking constantly (it will sputter and get very hot and steamy – even to the ouch point!) until smooth. To quicken the cooling process, put the saucepan into an ice bath. You want the caramel sauce to be thick so you can swirl it on top of your cheesecake. Use as much or as little as you want and have some for the side for those devil may care I don’t give a damn about my zipper popping people. The cake will keep for three days if it’s not gone in two.
It’s All Delicious Notes: Make it the day before (it had a stronger – not too – flavor today) and swirl the caramel topping on before you want to serve it.
Adapted from Great Grandma Giles recipe book and Three Cities of Spain coffeehouse
Reader Comments (4)
Just came across your very nice blog via the Foodie Blogroll.
I thought you might enjoy my family's food challenges. <http://foodalogue.blogspot.com/search/label/family%20food%20fight>
Thanks for stopping by - I'll click on your site and check it out - food challenges are always fun!
I made this cheesecake for my boyfriend & his coworkers. It was a big hit! Very light, creamy & absolutely yummy! I will definitely make this again. Love your blog! I see a few recipes that I definitely want to try! Keep them coming! Happy Holiday! :)
Hi Lydia
Everyone likes it around here as well...good bye pumpkin pie!!
Thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you enjoyed it
Merry Christmas
Sally