Pumpkin Cheesecake

Name: Pumpkin Cheesecake
Cook time: PT0D6H20M
Total time: PT0D6H20M
Yield: serves 12
Ingredients: 13 oz. gingersnap cookies; 1 ⁄ 2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (2⅔ oz.); 1 ⁄ 2 cup confectioners' sugar; 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted; 1 3 ⁄ 4 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature; 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 large eggs

Rum and gingersnaps add pizzazz to this comforting autumn classic.

Serves
serves 12
Time
6 hours 20 minutes

PHOTOGRAPHY: LINDA PUGLIESE; FOOD STYLIST: MARIANA VELASQUEZ; PROP STYLIST: ELVIS MAYNARD

By SAVEUR Editors

Updated on November 23, 2021

With its rum-scented creamy filling and a spiced undercarriage of gingersnap crumbs, this pumpkin cheesecake recipe from Bernard L. Herman’s 2012 story “A Bountiful Shore” is a welcome revamp of the traditional dessert. Diehard bakers: feel free to zhuzh things up with from-scratch gingersnaps and pumpkin purée; for the rest of us mere mortals, there’s always excellent-quality canned pumpkin (such as Libby’s) and gingersnaps (such as the family-owned Susan Snaps).

Featured in: "A Bountiful Shore."

Ingredients

13 oz. gingersnap cookies
¹⁄₂ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (2⅔ oz.)
¹⁄₂ cup confectioners' sugar
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 ³⁄₄ lb. cream cheese, at room temperature
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 large eggs

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Instructions

Step 1

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. To the work bowl of a food processor, add the gingersnaps, walnuts, and confectioners’ sugar, and process until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until incorporated. Transfer to a 9-inch springform pan set on a rimmed baking sheet. Using a glass, press the crumbs into an even layer on the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan; set aside. Clean and dry the work bowl and return it to the base.

Step 2

To the empty work bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, rum, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, cloves, ginger, mace, and eggs, then process until smooth, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through blending. Scrape the filling into the crust and bake until browned on top and the middle jiggles slightly when the pan is tapped, about 1½ hours. Let cool to room temperature, then chill until set, at least 4 hours.