This cheesecake has been our dessert for the past three Thanksgiving dinners! Like others, I also use ground pecans in place of the hazelnuts, but I also find that a spicy gingersnap makes for a better crust. (Try Christie's Midget Snaps) This also makes great idividual cheesecakes....just place a ginger snap in the bottom of a muffin tin lined with a paper liner and pour on the filling!
This was amazing. Thanks Shelley! Here are some changes I made that you may want to try out readers.... I used pecans instead of hazelnuts (because I wanted them to compliment the praline garnish I used. I baked the cheesecake in a water bath to avoid cracking. I made my praline with pecans. After the sugar/water mixture came to a med./ dark caramel color when boiling I then spread the pecans on a buttered surface until they hardened. Spread so they don't touch. Set aside enough cute shiny whole pecans for a garnish for each piece. Chop up the rest for your praline garnish. I made fresh whipped cream with vanilla bean vanilla & sugar. Presentation: take your slice of pumpkin cheesecake put a large dollop of the vanilla bean whipped cream (letting is slide down each side of the cheesecake slice). Sprinkle 1-2 TB of the pecan praline on top of the whipped cream and sides of serving plate. Finally on top of the dollop add one shiny whole praline coated pecan. Enjoy! -Wendy Copeland
Well not really sure how to rate this. Overall it was pretty tasty but I wish the baking directions were a bit more detailed. For one the crust hieght listed before baking should be about an inch shorter. The crust rises so high that when you cool the cake the walls stay high and the middle sinks creating a crator like shape (not attractive). Secondly you should probably take the cake out about a half hour sooner than listed. When you leave it out to cool it continues to cook. Mine came out a bit over cooked. Good luck!
I made this cheesecake for christmas and it was awesome! Everyone loved it! And it was my first cheesecake that did not crack (my 3rd attempt). If yours have a tendency to crack try cooking for a shorter amount of time then turn off the oven and leave the cake in there for about an hour--it will continue to cook but not at the high heat resulting in less (or no!) cracks.
This cheesecake is very good. It is smooth and creamy however i was hoping for a NY style cheesecake consistancy and this cake was a little soft for that. I followed the directions but did end up adding some additional spices. I added cloves nutmeg and extra cinnamon. I think my extra spices made a big difference as the flavor was WONDERFUL!! I enjoyed the gingersnap crust but i had to use pecans because i didnt have any hazelnuts. YUM! I baked it in a water bath and i think it helped keep it from cracking. I would recommend this cake if you like softer cheesecakes with very mild spices.
I read in the allrecipes cheesecake hints that cheesecakes should be baked in a water bath so that's what I did for this one. Unfortunately i didn't wrap the pan tightly enough with tinfoil and the cheesecake got a little wet but it was still fabulous! I will keep this recipe but next time I will put my pan in a trimmed down turkey cooking oven bag to be sure there are no leaks.
This is a great Thanksgiving recipe. My family always has me bring the chhesecake and this one was a hit. A little tip though. make sure to pat the pumkin dry between some papertowels. If you do that you shouldn't have any trouble with the cheesecake being too soft.
I did what someone else had said they had done before & substituted a mix of pecans and walnuts in place of the hazelnuts in the crust. Also added a little more cinnamon and a little less allspice. This was delicious!
Gingersnaps make this outstanding!! I've made pumpkin cheesecakes for years but this makes a world of difference!!
I omitted all nuts from the crust and it still turned out great! The pumpkin filling was nice but next time I want to use pumpkin pie filling instead of pure pumpkin for more flavour.
