This was my very first homeade cheesecake... I was surprised at how user-friendly it was. Everyone loved it but I'll share what I think are necessary modifications:
-I would do only half gingersnap and then the other half graham cracker (or nilla wafer) for the crust... this keeps it sweet and light without compromising the ginger kick.
-I also added about a half teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
-And as someone suggested... I made the filling first so it could refrigerate while I did the crust. This made the marble effect work... and not "runny" like others have stated.
This is a great recipe, and i've made it twice, the first time it was OK, the second time was perfection. The 2nd time, I did what other have recommended and added more spice to the pumpkin cheesecake mixture (nothing specific, a couple shakes of clove, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg), but after reading a lot of "how to make cheesecake" websites i decided against refrigerating the mix before baking- the marbling looked perfect without it- and, unlike the first time i made it, i didn't whip the mixture "to make it fluffy." Apparently air is bad for cheesecakes. I was also very careful to make temperature changes gradual; starting with room temp cream cheese and eggs, not refrigerating the batter, and baking the cake at 325 instead of 350, with a pan of water set on the lowest rack of the oven to increase humidity in the oven. I let the cake bake a full 45 minutes before i even peeked (which, btw, it was hard not to look!) and then when the cake was still slightly soft and jiggly in the middle (around 55 mins), turned the oven off, propped open the door with a peice of full rolled up to keep the oven door about 2" open, and let it rest in the oven for about an hour. Moved to the counter, slid a knife around the edge, covered with a plate, rest another hour, and then rest in the fridge for about 4 more hours. Lots of resting! But in the end, this cake came out PERFECTLY, with not even a crack in site! the texture was exactly right for a cheesecake, and it was yummy, yummy, yumm
This is a great recipes but I found that making the 18 serving size made better presentation. I also agree that it needed quite a bit more spice. I added all spice, cloves and ginger.
I have been using this recipe a few years now and love it! I have even managed to convert pumpkin pie haters into lovers with this....the crust makes all the difference. Thank you for sharing.
This recipe is wonderful. I made this in mini cupcakes and baked for only 20 minutes and it turned out great!! I made it for a work pot-luck and everybody raved about how the gingersnap crust was a perfect combination with the cheesecake.
I made this recipe twice and both times it was a hit! The second time I left it in the mixer for about 10 minutes and it got really light and fluffy. It completely filled the springform pan and looked like a restaraunt made cheesecake. I have passed this recipe on to several friends and relatives and would recommend it to anyone!
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a HUGE hit. It didn't last more than 24 hours. Which is saying a LOT since there were about 20 other desserts available. I didn't have any gingersnap cookies available so I added some ginger and a little pumpkin spice into crushed graham crackers. It made a completely different and wonderful tasting crust. I refrigerated the filling to make it thicker so it didn't just mix together. Everyone thought this was good to eat and nice to look at as well!
Okay but I've had better. Maybe if I had read the reviews first and added more spice and pumpkin and had refrigerated the batter for better marbling effect and checked it way before the 55 minutes then it may have been better. Won't make again.
This turned out perfect. No cracks and very pretty presentation. Everyone thought it was too sweet, maybe I slipped on the sugar. I put the water pan on the bottom rack as others suggested and it worked great. I used cinnamon sugar graham crackers (crushed) for the crust.
