Pumpkin Cheesecake With Gingersnap and Hazelnut Crust

By polloazul

A crust made with gingersnaps spices up this creamy, spicy dessert, a very autumn-appropriate take on classic cheesecake. The delicate texture is achieved by cooking the cheesecake in a bain-marie, a water bath made by surrounding the springform pan with boiling water — be sure to wrap the springform in a thorough layer of foil in order to keep the water out.

Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 1 1/4 cups (about 8 oz.) finely ground gingersnap cookie crumbs
• 3/4 cup finely ground hazelnuts
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp. packed light brown sugar
• FOR THE TOPPING:
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 16-oz. container sour cream
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from saveur.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Make the crust: Heat oven to 325°. Wrap the outside of a 9" springform pan with foil and set aside. Combine gingersnap crumbs, hazelnuts, butter, and brown sugar in a food processor, and process until evenly combined. Transfer to pan and press evenly into bottom and halfway up side; bake until set, about 10 minutes. Let cool and set aside.

2. Make the topping: Whisk together sugar, vanilla, and sour cream in a medium bowl until smooth; set aside.

3. Make the filling: Set a kettle of water to boil. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until evenly incorporated. Add cream, syrup, vanilla, and pumpkin, and mix until smooth. Pour filling over crust and place springform pan into a large roasting pan; pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up side of spring-form pan. Bake until filling jiggles slightly in the center when the pan is tapped on the side, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

4. Pour sour cream topping over filling and gently smooth top; continue baking for 5 minutes. Remove springform pan from water bath and let cool completely to room temperature. Chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight, before serving.