Individual Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

November 18th, 2010 § 45 Comments

I should have mentioned it sooner, but, I have a thing with individual-sized desserts. And by thing I mean fixation. And by fixation I mean please call Dr. Drew and his addiction medicine specialist team.

And if he’s not available, just come over to my house. I’ll be that thing on the floor in the dark recesses of my kitchen, with spittle on my shirt, cooing to mini pumpkin spice cheesecakes as if I birthed them myself. And, well, in some very slight and unnerving way, I did.

I’m certainly not the first person to pimp out a pumpkin cheesecake. I’m not even going to be the last. But I’m moving in the direction to be the one who loves them and cradles them just frighteningly enough to make TLC consider adding me to their queue on Hoarders.

And I still can’t tell if that would flatter me.

I love cheesecake. Plain and simple.

I love that it’s slightly tangy with a sweet aftertaste, but not cloyingly so. I love how dense and thick and satiny its texture can be. The way it sort of just coats your tongue, then warms, then melts, like fudge. I’ll even go so far as to say that there’s something quite sexy about it. How deeply rich and intense the flavor.

But I’ll leave it at that, because this is a family show, and because Thanksgiving needs no provocative story lines. Not this year, anyhow.

To make these charming cheesecakes fall-flavored, I added pumpkin, a heavy handful of warm spices, a piped puff of cinnamon-spiked whipped cream, and a sprinkling of homemade pecan praline.

Because I enjoy taking things to new heights. I made them mini just, umm, well, you know what we talked about before, just because.

They have all the creaminess and spicy warmth that traditional pumpkin pie has, with its deliciously moist middle. But there’s something more luxurious here, more satisfying about the textural complements of crunchy nuts and cloud of whipped cream. And the spices are deeper too. I am very generous with those. The crust has an obscene amount of gingersnap flavor, and I find that you don’t need to grind gingersnaps to achieve that delicious zing. You can simply make your own with graham crackers and cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

Whatever you do, just have some pumpkin cheesecake for me this holiday season. And don’t forget to call Dr. Drew, I’m really in bad shape over here.

Individual Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes with Cinnamon Spiked Whipped Cream

Grind graham crackers in a food processor, or place them in a large, resealable plastic bag and bash them to smithereens with a hammer or rolling pin. Whisk in spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves until evenly combined.

Add melted butter and stir so that all crumbs are coated.

Coat your muffin tin generously with nonstick cooking spray. Press about a tablespoon of the buttered crumbs into each of the cups of your muffin tin. Firmly press them to create an even bottom and then a little rim that just begins to lift up the sides of the cup. You can also use paper cupcake liners, if you want to ensure that the cheesecakes don’t stick to the pan at all. That’s the safer route, but I like the presentation without them.

Bake for 8 minutes at 325°, just to set the crust and allow it to firm up.

Set the crusts aside and get to work on your cheesecake filling. In a large bowl, lightly beat the cream cheese, just to break it up.

Add pumpkin, spices, eggs, flour, and sugar. Beat just until combined. You don’t want to incorporate a lot of air into the batter, because cheesecake should be thick, dense, and satiny.

Pour the filling evenly into each of your prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cheesecakes are puffed (moreseo around the edges) and they begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Let them cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then chill them in the refrigerator, in the pan, for at least 3 hours before serving. Run a butter knife around the sides of each of them to gently loosen before pulling them from the tin. Be careful here. Garnish with cinnamon whipped cream and pecan praline. Recipes to follow.

Individual Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes with Cinnamon Spiked Whipped Cream

(recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

makes 12

For Crust:

5 oz graham crackers (9 whole crackers)

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (3/4 of a stick)

For Filling:

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

For whipped cream topping:

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For pecan praline garnish:

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

6 Tbsp unsalted butter (3/4 of a stick)

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Generously coat each cup of a standard sized muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Grind graham crackers in a food processor. Whisk in spices until evenly combined. Stir in melted butter and press mixture firmly into prepared pan.
  3. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
  4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, flour, spices, salt and vanilla. Add the eggs and yolk; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour over prepared crust.
  5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until center is just set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
  6. Make praline: Line baking sheet with foil. Stir sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until mixture comes to boil; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Mix in pecans and spread mixture on prepared baking sheet. Bake until sugar syrup bubbles vigorously, about 8 minutes. Cool praline completely. Break into pieces. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight.)
  7. When ready to serve cheesecake (after chilling for at least 3 hours), make the whipped cream. Beat heavy cream until it begins to thicken. Slowly add sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
  8. Garnish the cheesecakes with a generous dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with praline.

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