Princeton Happenings

Happy Baking Season

When I think of fall I think about football, apple picking, Halloween, pumpkins, the cool fresh air and baking. The fall is when I do the most baking than any other time in the year. However, by the time the holidays come around I am pretty much over it. Everything that I bake now I freeze and serve when the time comes to use it. It’s nice to get a jump start on it, when you are not in a time crunch to get it done. It is always a blast to bake with friends, turn up the tunes and have some fun. I came across this recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake:
Ingredients
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs , 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined. Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.
After the pumpkin cheesecake has set you can drizzle caramel or hot fudge and serve with whip cream or ice cream to garnish. If your sweet tooth is anything like mine, you might want to try it all on top!