Recipe: A pumpkin cheesecake

"This pecan pumpkin cheesecake is rather good, almost a cross between pecan pie and baked pumpkin cheesecake, topped with tasty baked sour cream and caramel - sticky sweet delicious," says Mercy Fenton in her weekly column.

"I use crown prince pumpkins for their dense flesh and good flavour; it’s worth finding one. It does take time to cook it - but I put in a shoulder of lamb to slow cook at the same time and that worked a treat."

Baked Pumpkin and Sour Cream Cheesecake with Pecan Pie Crust

There are five steps involved in this cheesecake, each is pretty simple so don’t be afraid to tackle it.

Step 1 Base

Ingredients

280g digestive biscuit crumb

80g melted butter

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 150C.
• Line the base of a 9 inch springform tin with a disk of parchment and butter the sides of the ring.
• First prepare the biscuit base. Crush the biscuits in a bag with a rolling pin or use a food processor.
• Mix with the melted butter and press firmly into the base of the tin.
• Bake at 150C for 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool, then butter the sides and line with a long strip of parchment paper

Step 2 Pecan Layer

Ingredients

150gr dark brown sugar

150gr maple syrup or maple flavour syrup

80gr melted butter

2 large eggs

190gr pecans - lightly chopped

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

• Stir together the sugar, syrup, pecans, butter vanilla and egg.
• Once it is a homogenous mix, add the pecans.
• Scrape on to the prepared base and chill while preparing the cheesecake .

Step 3

Ingredients

330g sour cream

50g sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix and set aside until cheesecake is baked.

Step 4 Cheesecake Mix

Ingredients

500g cream cheese

150gr sugar

38g dark brown sugar

85g beaten egg

110g pouring cream

90g sour cream

20g cornflour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Method

• Re-heat oven to 160C.
• Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until there are no lumps.
• Add the egg, pumpkin, cream and sour cream and beat again until smooth.
• Add cornflour, cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well.
• Carefully spoon onto the pecan mix, starting at the outside and working in. Level carefully.
• Place a small bowl of water in the bottom of the oven, then bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, without opening the door, turn the oven down to 120C and continue to cook - checking every 10 minutes. It’s ready when it’s set at the edges and has a slight wobble on top.
• Remove from oven, turn the oven back up to 160C.
• Carefully top with the cream cheese mix and bake for a further 10-12 minutes until just set.
• Remove from oven and allow to chill fully before adding the caramel topping - it is optional, but I do think this is worth the effort.

Step 5 Caramel topping

Ingredients, to make more caramel than needed

125gr sugar

25gr water

80ml cream - warmed

Method:

• Cook 125gr of sugar and the water to caramel.
• When the sugar begins to caramelize, swirl the pan gently to disperse the heat.
• When you tilt the pan, the liquid should be a rich caramel colour, be brave enough to cook it to quite a deep colour (if you smell burn you need to start again), once your caramel is cooked remove from the heat.
• Carefully add the warmed cream and cook for a minute or two, stirring well to remove any lumps.
• Cool the caramel until it thickens but is still spreadable.
• Carefully using a spatula or the back of a spoon, spread a thin layer over the cheesecake.
• You can then serve extra with each slice.

Pumpkin Puree

Ingredients

1 Crown Prince pumpkin or similar

Method:

To prepare the pumpkin, first cut it in half and discard the stem section and stringy pulp. Next cut in to wedges. Lay the pumpkin in a single layer on a suitable-sized baking dish, add about a cup of water so the base of the dish is covered, then seal over with tin foil to seal in the steam.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 1½ hours for a medium-sized pumpkin, or until tender.

Once tender, remove from the foil, allow to cool to just warm then puree in a food processor. Set aside.