Sunday, November 20, 2011

Holiday Recipe Spectacular - Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

Pinned ImageYummy, just in time for thanksgiving, or Christmas.  I'm in the mood for sweets, if you can't tell!  Instead of pumpkin pie, try this awesome pumpkin dessert with vanilla ice cream! I got this via pinterest from http://www.sprinklebakes.com

 Crust:

2/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup almond flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a food processor, blend ingredients until mixture resembles coarse sand.  Press into the bottom (not up sides) of a 9-inch spring-form pan.  Bake 10 minutes.  Cool completely.

Filling:

2- 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar divided
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup of canned pumpkin
2  tsp. ground allspice (substitute recipe here)
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
3 tsp. espresso powder, or Starbucks VIA instant coffee (for authenticity)
Using an electric hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Mix eggs in one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Remove one cup of the mixture and transfer to another bowl.  Add the espresso powder to the 1 cup of filling and mix until coffee has dissolved and is uniform in color.  Set aside.

Blend 1/4 cup of sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and allspice into the remaining filling.  Pour the pumpkin mixture on top of the crust in the spring-form pan.  Top pumpkin mixture with the 1 cup coffee filling mixture.

Bake for 55 minutes or until filling is set. The cheesecake will puff up in the middle a little bit as it bakes and then relax back down as it cools. Run a knife around the edge of the pan for easy un-molding.  Allow the cheesecake to cool before removing rim of spring-form pan.  Chill until ready to serve.

Garnish:

Whipped cream (1/2 cup heavy cream, 3 Tbsp fine white sugar, beat together with electric mixer)
Cinnamon, nutmeg and powdered sugar for sprinkling
1 Cinnamon stick broken in half (decor only) 

Top cake with whipped cream, sprinkle with spices and powdered sugar.  Garnish with cinnamon sticks.