Deluxe Pumpkin Cheesecake by domesticdiva

By DOMESTICDIVA

The ultimate pumpkin cheesecake, with a gingersnap crust, swirls of pumpkin and cheesecake topped with caramel, chocolate and crushed gingersnap cookies. It will become a favorite for the holidays.

Ingredients

• pkgs (8oz ea.) cream cheese, softened, divided:
• 1 cup gingersnap cookies (crushed)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 tbsp. cornstartch
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• Garnish:
• Chocolate syrup, caramel topping, whipped topping and crushed gingersnap cookies.

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from tasteofhome.com

Preparation

Step 1

Grease bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
wrap two layers of heavy duty foil securely around pan.

In a small bowl combine the cookie crumbs, peacans and butter.
press onto the bottom of prepared pan. place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until set.
Cool on wire rack.

Filling:
In a large bowl beat one package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch until smooth, about 2 minutes. beat in remaining cream cheese, one package at a time. add remaining sugar. add 2 eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.add vanilla and remaining eggs, beating on low speed just until combined.

Place 2 cups filling in a small bowl; stir in the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. remove 3/4 cups of pumpkin filling; set aside. pour remaining pumpkin filling over crust; top with remaining plain filling. drop reserved pumpkin filling by spoonfuls over cheesecake; cut through with a knife to swirl.

place springform pan in large baking pan; add 1 inch of hot water to larger pan. bake a 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until center is just set an top appears dull. remove springform pan from water bath. cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. carefully run knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. refrigerate overnight.

Garnish:
Drizzle chocolate and caramel topping over cheesecake. Pipe (or dollop)whipped topping around edges of cheesecake and sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps.