Cooking

A Perfect Marriage

This Holiday Cheesecake Weds Favorite Flavors for a Seasonal Treat

    This seasonal recipe came about when I was searching for a way to serve two of my favorite foods, pumpkin and chocolate, together. My wife loves cheesecake, and she suggested combining both our loves: Why not make a pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake? Holiday cheesecake was born.
    I have included some techniques to help make your cheesecake a more beautiful and delicious dessert. These techniques are simple and easy to follow—and they actually work.
    One problem in making cheesecakes is that often they crack. Some develop huge “Grand Canyon” cracks in the center; some get circular cracks around the edge, and some have both. While they do not affect the flavor, cracks are not very attractive, and they can be prevented. Circular cracks can result from overbeating the cheesecake mixture after adding eggs or from the cheesecake sticking to the sides of the pan while cooling. You can keep these cracks from forming by blending on the lowest speed, just enough to completely incorporate the eggs, and buttering the space between the top of the crust and the top of the pan after the cooked crust has cooled and before you add the cheesecake mixture.
    “Grand Canyon” cracks are almost always caused by cooking in an oven that is too hot or too dry or by cooking too long. Keeping the temperature just high enough to thoroughly cook the eggs and set the cheesecake (325 degrees) will help prevent this. A pan of hot water placed in the bottom of the oven will prevent the cracks that result from the mixture drying out. To prevent overcooking, turn off the oven after 55 minutes and, without peeking, leave the oven door closed for one hour. You can then remove the cheesecake and let it cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.
    Finally, no matter how careful you are, sometimes cracks will appear. These can be repaired with a wet knife after the cheesecake has cooled to room temperature. Just dip the knife into hot water and gently smooth over the crack.

HOLIDAY CHEESECAKE
Crust
1½ cups chocolate wafer crumbs
(I crush plain dark chocolate wafers)
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

Cheesecake filling
2 cups hot water
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 pound pumpkin (canned is fine, or you can steam 1 pound of peeled, chopped, edible pumpkin)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup heavy cream

Chocolate swirl
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped fine
2 tablespoons boiling water

    To make the crust, blend the cookie crumbs, sugar, salt and espresso powder and mix well. Add the melted butter and stir in until just incorporated. Pour mixture into a buttered springform pan and press into the bottom and up the sides as far as you can with your fingers. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while you make the cheesecake filling.
    Reset the oven to 325 degrees and place a shallow pan with 2 cups of hot water in the bottom of the oven. Beat the cream cheese until smooth and light. Add the sugars and blend. Add the eggs one at a time and blend on the lowest speed until just barely combined (overbeating the mixture after adding the eggs will increase the possibility of large cracks). Stop the mixer after each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Blend in the pumpkin, again on the lowest speed until just blended. Add the cream and stir in by hand, again being careful not to over blend. Set aside ½ cup of the mixture and pour the rest into the cooled crust.
    In a small bowl pour the hot water over the chopped chocolate and stir to melt. Add the reserved one-half of the cheesecake mixture and blend thoroughly.
    Drizzle the chocolate mixture over the cheesecake and swirl it in with a small spoon. Make as decorative a swirl as you can and try to get some chocolate into the center of cheesecake but do not disturb the crust.
    Bake in the oven for 55 minutes. Turn the oven off without opening the door and let it cool in the oven for at least one hour.
    Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight for best results. Serves eight to 12.

—By Roy Creekmore
—Photography by Paul Skrentny