Rum and gingersnaps give this decadent autumn dessert a spicy, warming flavor. This recipe first appeared in our November 2012 issue along with Bernard L. Herman’s story A Bountiful Shore.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Rum and gingersnaps give this decadent autumn dessert a spicy, warming flavor.
Yield: serves 12
Ingredients
- 13 oz. gingersnap cookies
- 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1⁄2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 1 3⁄4 lb. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3⁄4 cup canned pumpkin
- 3 tbsp. dark rum
- 1 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1⁄4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1⁄4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1⁄4 tsp. ground mace
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°. Process gingersnaps, walnuts, and confectioners’ sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Add butter; pulse until evenly combined. Transfer to a 9″ springform pan set on a rimmed baking sheet, and press crumbs into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan; set aside.
- Clean food processor, and then add cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, rum, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, cloves, ginger, mace, and eggs; puree, stopping to scrape down bowl with a rubber spatula at least once, until smooth. Pour into crust; bake until browned on top and the middle jiggles slightly when the pan is tapped, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Let cool to room temperature; chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.