Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake with Sugared Cranberries! (The Apron Winner is…)

Print   |   Email this to a friend   |  November 10, 2008
Filed Under basic, cake, giveaway!, kids, recipe

This past week I taught several classes on bread baking. We made breads from my book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that fit the cooling weather, like oatmeal pumpkin bread. The recipe calls for a roasted “pie” pumpkin, but only uses 1 cup of it. I promised all the wonderful people in my class that I would come up with a way to use the rest of that pumpkin puree and share it here. Every year at this time I make a Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake, in fact I make a few of them, by demand. It tastes like the richest, creamiest pumpkin pie you will ever eat. Even people who swear they don’t like pumpkin love this cheesecake.

I topped it with some beautiful red fruits, including sugared cranberries. The tartness combined with the crisp sugar coating is a perfect compliment to the smoothness of the cake. Keep reading and I’ll show you how.

Before I make the cheesecake I want to THANK YOU all for the fantastic well wishes during this eventful month! The winner of the Zoë bakes apron by Crooked Brook is…Tracey from Sugar Punk.  Congratulations and thank you so much!

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheese Cake Batter:

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin or canned

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 tablespoon bourbon

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon (corn or potato starch)

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake topping:

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 recipe génoise (cut to 1/4″ thick) or graham cracker crust

preheat oven to 325° and prepare an 8 by 3-Inch Round cake pan
with parchment and either the layer of génoise (as I used here) or graham cracker crust. Set aside.

To prepare cheese cake batter: In a previous post on Key Lime cheesecake I show step by step how to mix and bake the cheesecake.

Mix together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment the soft cream cheese and brown sugar, until smooth.

In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, sour cream, vanilla and bourbon. Slowly add to the cream cheese mixture, scraping down the sides often.

In another bowl whisk together the sugar, starch, spices and salt. Add this to the cream cheese and pumpkin mixture. Beat on medium/low speed until well combined, scraping down the sides often.

Pour into prepared pan. Gently tap the cake pan several times on the counter to bring any air bubbles to the surface.

Bake in a water bath and with a foil tent as shown in previous post on Key Lime Cheesecake, for about 45-60 minutes or until set, slightly puffy and no longer wet looking.

While the cake is baking mix together all the ingredients for the topping, set aside.

Once the cake is fully cooked remove the foil and very gently spread the on the sour cream topping with an Offset Spatula . Bake uncovered with the topping for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove the cake and allow to cool slowly still in the water bath. Carefully run a thin blade knife around the edge of the warm cake so that it won’t crack. Put in the refrigerate to cool for at least a couple of hours!

Meanwhile make the sugared cranberries:

1 cup fresh and firm cranberries

1 egg white (use pasteurized if you are uncomfortable eating raw egg)

1 cup sugar

Mix the cranberries with the egg white. Drain off the excess egg white between your fingers and then dip the cranberries in the sugar. Roll them around until they are evenly coated. Remove to dry on a cookie sheet.

I garnished the cake with the sugared cranberries, pomegranate seeds, raspberries and dried sweetened hibiscus flowers that I found at Trader Joe’s. The hibiscus tastes like floral cranberry fruit leather.

Thank you again to Tracey and everyone else that stopped by to leave me a message. A huge thank you to Crooked Brook for the gorgeous apron. For those of you who were interested in ordering an apron I’ll be getting all the information together so just be in touch!

Also thnk you to all of the wonderful people that I have met through teaching classes who inspire me to try new things, that also goes to all the folks at Twitter!

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