Many thanks to PatM for posting this Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Caramel Swirl recipe!

wigs

Well-known member
On Nov. 11, 2021, our local Veteran's Day Recognition Reception was back on the calendar after being skipped last year due to COVID regulations. I had had Pat's recipe in my "To Try" file for eons and cranked out enough to feed 150 guests (in the amount of 10 cheesecakes). It was DELICIOUS! I have posted my notes below the recipe. Caryn aka Wigs==>

PatMMember October 26, 2020 at 11:38 am

Rec: Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Swirl

Pat’s notes: Fairly easy to make and soooo good, definitely a keeper. Was glad I set the springform pan on a cookie sheet as some butter oozed out during baking.More notes from second time I made it: It was still a little jiggly in the center when I pulled it but it firmed up nicely with refrigeration.

Didn’t do the sour cream rosettes and didn’t miss them. Loved the cream cheese topping and this time I just drizzled long lines of caramel over the top without swirling the caramel in. Great stuff. Guests were having seconds and thirds.Lots of 4-star Epi reviews: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/2635

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Swirl

Crust

1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies

1 1/2 cups toasted pecans (about 6 ounces)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin

9 tablespoons whipping cream, DIVIDED--Use 4 Tbsp (aka 1/4 cup) in the filling/wigs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon (about) purchased caramel sauce

1 cup sour cream

For Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Finely grind ground cookies, pecans and sugar in processor. Add melted butter and blend until combined. Press crust mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides.

For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light. Transfer 3/4 cup mixture to small bowl; cover tightly and refrigerate to use for topping. Add pumpkin, 4 tablespoons whipping cream, ground cinnamon and ground allspice to mixture in large bowl and beat until well combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined.

Pour filling into crust (filling will almost fill pan if using a 9-inch size). Bake until cheesecake puffs, top browns and center moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack and cool 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around cake pan sides to loosen cheesecake. Cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Bring remaining 3/4 cup cream cheese mixture to room temperature. Add remaining 5 tablespoons whipping cream to cream cheese mixture and stir to combine. Press down firmly on edges of cheesecake to even thickness. Pour cream cheese mixture over cheesecake, spreading evenly. Spoon caramel sauce in lines over cream cheese mixture. Using tip of knife, swirl caramel sauce into cream cheese mixture. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)Release pan sides from cheesecake. Spoon sour cream into pastry bag fitted with small star tip (do not stir before using). Pipe decorative border around cheesecake and serve.Serves 10.Source: 11/93 Bon Appetithttps://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-cheesecake-with-caramel-swirl-2635

Caryn's notes: I made the crust using Anna's ginger thins and in place of the pecans I used 1/4 heaping cup almond slices and 1/8 cup brown sugar and about 6 Tbsp unsalted melted butter (add enough until hour crumb mixture feels like wet sand).

I baked the cheesecake in a 10-inch cheesecake pan. Wrapped the outside of the pan in first a Reynold's turkey-sized oven baking bag that you just pull up a little way above the top sides of the pan followed by a wrapping of 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil over the oven bag and bake the cake in a water bath (boiling hot water) in a preheated 325-degree F oven for about 70 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 145 to 150 degrees. Remove cheesecake from oven and let cake sit in the water bath on a cooling rack for 45 minutes. Remove cheesecake from the water bath and cool on rack on the counter for 2 to 4 hours and then refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours (overnight is best).

I did not put any whipping cream into the 3/4 cup reserved cream cheese mixture before spreading it on top of the chilled cheesecake. Like Pat, I didn't bother swirling the caramel into the cream cheese mixture, but just drizzled diagonal lines of caramel all over the top of the cake.

I DID do the sour cream rosettes--they were gorgeous and held up really well (remember NOT to stir the sour cream first as the recipe instructs).

 
wigs, first off...kudos for getting back into the catering world. Sounds like you made a great choice.

Now I've got two questions:

1. I don't understand the swirling caramel top. Could you give more explanation on that step.

2. Have you ever used those silicon cheesecake water guards? I'm seriously considering it. I recently made two water-bath cakes: the first was CathyZ's flour-less chocolate cake. I lowered the springform pan into a turkey roasting bag, put a large rubber band around it and baked it. Perfect. Then I tried to save the bag by drying it out and using it the next week for my turkey brine. Well, I ended up spraying turkey brine all over the kitchen counter, floor, my brand new Chaco shoes--all because there was a tiny hole poked in the bag and I couldn't corral over a gallon of liquid sloshing without it spraying it like a guy with a prostate the size of a watermelon.

So...for the next cheesecake (Irish Coffee) I simply wrapped the base with foil, feeling a moment's trepidation because I felt it might get wet inside. And--of course--I was right. But fortunately, it was a brand new pan so the water didn't leak onto the crust. (Bonus, I tried using my chocolate chip oatmeal walnut cookie dough as the base and it was perfect with the Kahlua and coffee flavors.)

So...anyway, I've seen silicon guards...like oversized cupcake liners that you set the springform pan in so water can't get it and I was wondering if you had heard or used anything like this.

 
Hello, Marilyn! Sorry I am so tardy in replying to your questions. With any of our old recipe swap systems, I was able to access and post to swapsters during my lunch break at work. Then there was a new system implemented at Jones, and it considers this new 'recipeswap.org' site as being a blog which means it now blocks me from interacting with you folks while I am on a company logon ID. Ahem. Big bummer as far as I am concerned, but such is life.

1) For the swirling step with Pat's recipe, just drizzle your caramel in lines over the top of the cream cheese/sugar mixture; then take the tip of a sharp knife and run it back and forth through the caramel lines and voila(!) -- you will create a swirling or marbled effect. Obviously, the end taste will be the same so with so many cheesecakes to contend with for our most recent Veteran's Day, I skipped that step.

2) With a Reynold's plastic oven turkey bag, you can certainly develop little pin holes--as you were unfortunate enough to discover firsthand. I usually put water in one after using it, tie it shut, and then set bag with water inside in a big bowl to make sure there are no leaks prior to re-using it. Also, I have never used one of these Reynold's bags for holding brining liquid as I don't think they are sturdy enough. IMHO, brining bags like they sell at the following site are much thicker and therefore, more reliable to NOT spring a leak when holding so much liquid along with a bird:

https://www.surlatable.com/pro-6823546-bag-brine-s2-slt-2021/PRO-6823546.html#prefn1=productType--&prefv1=HardGood&q=brining&start=3

I would think your silicone guard would work well to keep bain marie water OUT of a cheesecake springform pan. Just make sure the guard is high-sided enough so that the water level can come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Also consider, would a silicone guard change the amount of heat that can get through to the cheesecake batter to bake it? Your scientific side can ponder that query! Might one have to leave a cheesecake in the oven longer in order for his/her batter to hit the internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees which is what you need to attain prior to pulling the cake with its bath out of the oven? If using a silicone guard, the hot water won't be in as close of contact with the sides of the springform pan.

Hope I have helped you some with my take on your inquiries. You have a great Christmas! Caryn aka Wigs

 
You can use the bain-marie technique to bake cheesecakes, which, being custards, are also prone to cracking on top and benefit from moist air in the oven.Cheesecakes are generally baked in something called a springform pan, which is a two-piece contraption that allows the base and the sides to come apart, making it easier to get the cheesecake out of the pan. The downside to immersing a springform pan in water is that it can leak, and the cheesecake can get waterlogged. Some people will try to seal up the bottom of the springform with foil, but it's not a foolproof workaround by any means.Instead, when baking a cheesecake, you can place a pan of hot water on the lower shelf of the oven and the springform on the upper shelf. This way the steam from the hot water will still envelop the top of the custard without any chance of water seeping into the cheesecake.

 
Hi Marilyn,

I bake my cheesecakes by first putting them in an oven roasting bag and then setting that bag in a big baking pan filled halfway (or so) with water. The oven roasting bag prevents leakage and my cheesecakes are wonderfully smooth and luscious; made a big difference!

 
thanks to wigs for explaining the caramel swirl. I was going in a completely different manner--figures.

Thanks to Charley2 and deb for advice on baking.

I ended up buying one of those silicon pans. It's sized for 10" springform and so my 8" won't work (or at least I don't think it will since the water won't be close (as wigs noted). But I just realized writing this out I can buy plain old 9" silicone cake pan with 2" high sides and use that.

Sometimes it takes a village to get my brain to work.

 
That's sort of why I posted that about just using water in the oven--that was from a cooking site. I don't think it has to be in contact with the sides

 
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