Food Network’s “Almost Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake”

Nov 28, 2020 , , Leave a Comment

Today I am going to talk about one of my all time favorite desserts, cheesecake! In particular, I am going to focus on Food Network’s “Almost Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake.” While I love to bake, cheesecake can be very intimidating! Believe me, there have been many fails! But I decided to give it a try anyway. Let’s dive in shall we?

The Pumpkin Cheesecake Basics:

This recipe starts with pretty basic cheesecake ingredients (pumpkin being the exception).

It also uses a pretty standard crust. This happens to be my favorite part of the cheesecake! There’s just something about that yummy graham cracker base. This recipe call for the traditional graham cracker crust, but don’t feel limited to graham crackers! In fact, as I was making this I found myself thinking that I might use ginger snaps next time. My crust turned out pretty well. I could honestly eat just this..

Next came the filling. The most noteworthy instruction in all cheesecake recipes is room temperature cream cheese and eggs. I will be the first to admit that I have often skipped this step. If you are tempted to do so, please don’t!  You simply will not end up with a smooth batter if you use cold ingredients. I am pleased to say that I did follow instructions this time. The result was a nice smooth pumpkin cheesecake batter!

Now let’s talk water bath shall we? This is another step I have often skipped, but it can make a difference. There are two ways to do this. The first is to wrap the springform pan in foil and place it in a roasting pan with boiling water. Or, you can place the roasting pan on the rack under your cheesecake. The result is steam that is supposed to keep the cake from cracking. I say “supposed to” because, well, sometimes it just doesn’t work. As you can see, mine still cracked.

The Verdict

Despite the cracks, I would call this pumpkin cheesecake a success. Food Network considers this recipe’s difficulty to be “intermediate” which I would agree with. But how does it taste you ask? To sum it up in one word….AMAZING! The texture is smooth like pumpkin pie and it’s not overly sweet. I could almost eat two pieces. Who knows, maybe I did? So (drumroll please), here is my finished cheesecake.

 

Ready to try it? Head on over to https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/almost-famous-pumpkin-cheesecake-recipe2-1972720 

Happy eating!

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