This is the month of October, AKA the best month ever because it is my birthday month, the trees are a beautiful red orange yellowy hue, the air is crisp but not too cold, and pumpkins are EVERYWHERE. I love pumpkin-spiced everything, and I love cheesecake, so this year I’ve combined the two in the best ways and in two different methods. I was worried about having too much cheesecake but let’s be real, that’s never really an issue. So I went ahead and created two pumpkin cheesecakes — one in the New York style, and the second in a burnt basque cheesecake style.
This was also my first time attempting a burnt basque cheesecake, and it’s safe to say it turned out pretty delicious, and I definitely plan on creating them again sometime soon. I adapted my burnt basque cheesecake recipe from one of my favourite baking channels — Cupcake Jemma, all the way from SOHO in London, UK. I ended up serving these cheesecakes to my few friends who were able to come over for my birthday — abiding by the 10 people in the household rule, making sure no one had COVID before coming over, and also sending reminders that they did not have to come if they didn’t feel comfortable (a new social norm for 2020). In the end, my friends seemed to favour the burnt basque cheesecake style over the New York style, but wished the burnt basque had the addition of whipped cream too. Anything is possible right?
My general conclusion is that the burnt basque cheesecake was actually a lot easier to make, considering that both cheesecakes take the same amount of time to bake, and that the burnt basque did not require a water bath and finicky oven temperature changes. In terms of texture and taste, I actually really enjoyed the burnt basque more, just because of the soft and fluffy texture, purely enjoyed without the overpowering graham crust. Try out both and let me know what you think!
Side note: if you are reading this, I’ve entered into the Greatest Baker competition, and if you’d like to vote for me here is my profile link: https://greatestbaker.com/2020/allysa-saw and voting opens next week on October 27th. Thanks in advance!
Here are the recipes:
New York Style Pumpkin Cheesecake
This recipe makes enough for 1 x 6″ springform pan.
Ingredients
For the crust
100g (1 cup) graham crumbs
30g (2 tbsp) melted butter
For the batter
250g (2 cups) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
50g (1/4 cup) sugar
2g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
1g (1/2 tsp) ground nutmeg
0.5g (1/4 tsp) ground ginger
0.5g (1/4 tsp) clove
1g (1/4 tsp) salt
50g (1/4 cup) pumpkin purée
1 egg, at room temperature
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Mix the crust base, and pack into the bottom of a 6″ springform pan. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or in a medium mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the cheese on medium speed until completely smooth and lump free.
- Add the sugar, spices, and salt, and mix on low to combine.
- Scrape down the sides often, and mix on low speed to combine. Add in the pumpkin puree.
- Once smooth, add the egg and mix until fully combined.
- Pour over graham crust and bake for 15 min, turn down the oven temperature to 300F/189C for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when the cheesecake is mostly set and slightly jiggly in the centre. Let it cool at room temperature for 1 hour then place in the fridge to cool overnight.
- Run a knife around the edge to loosen the cheesecake, and then remove from the pan. Decorate with piped whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon (optional), and serve chilled.
Burnt Basque Pumpkin Cheesecake
This makes enough for 1 x 9″ springform pan.
Ingredients
675g (5 -1/3 cup) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
250g (1-1/4 cup) sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
4g (2 tsp) ground cinnamon
2g (1 tsp) ground nutmeg
1g (1/2 tsp) ground ginger
1g (1/2 tsp) clove
2g (1/2 tsp) salt
100g (1/2 cup) pumpkin purée
338g (1-1/3 cup) heavy cream
4g (1 tsp) vanilla extract
40g (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) flour, sifted
Method
- Preheat the oven to 392F/200C.
- Line a 9″ springform pan with two overlapping sheets of parchment paper and fold the creases inside the pan to get a flush paper covering.
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until soft and runny, and lump-free.
- Add in the spices, salt, and pumpkin puree, mixing on low to combine.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down in-between additions.
- Add the cream and vanilla extract, mixing on low speed to combine.
- Add in the flour, and mix by hand to achieve a smooth batter.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 min or until the top is fully browned, and slightly jiggly.
- Cool at room temperature for 1 hour, and place in the fridge to cool for 1 hour and serve ( if aiming for a runnier, custard texture), or leave in the fridge overnight for a more set up, and fluffy cheesecake.
- Enjoy!
ally bakes 