Here’s a nice dessert brought to you by the Smitten Kitchen. There are tons of comments on their website about this recipe, so I surmise it gets thousands of hits.
To give credit where it’s due, it’s really a winner of a recipe. The only thing I’d change is adding a huge dollop of whipped cream to it before serving.
What I’m presenting below is the recipe from their site, pretty much, as is.
What you’ll need
- 0.25 cups (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 0.33 cups (45 grams) cornstarch
- 0.5t kosher salt
- 1.5t ground cinnamon
- 0.25t freshly grated nutmeg
- 0.25t ground ginger
- 0.5 cups (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese (softened if mixing with a hand mixer)
- 3 large eggs
- 1.25 cups (about a 15-ounce/425-gram can)
What to do
Begin heating your oven to 425° F. Line a loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper pressed into the corners and up the sides. Make sure there’s enough overhang to pull out the cheesecake when it’s done. (I actually used two pieces of parchment paper: one cut as wide as the loaf pan is long, and one as wide as the loaf pan is narrow. I then placed them perpendicular to each other.) Place the loaf pan on a rimmed baking sheet, in case there’s overflow.
There are two main methods to mix everything. I chose the hand mixer.
Hand mixer:
Combine the granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Add the softened cream cheese and brown sugar and beat to combine, scraping down the bowl a few times to ensure there’s no unmixed cream cheese. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine, and scraping down the bowl between each egg. Add the pumpkin and beat to evenly combine.
Food processor:
In the work bowl, blend the granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, and spices to combine. Cut the cold cream cheese into large chunks and add to the sugar mixture along with the brown sugar. Blend until completely combined and the cream cheese is soft, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend to combine, then scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Add the pumpkin and blend to evenly combine.
Continue, as such, regardless of how you mixed the ingredients:
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan, ensuring it all lands inside the parchment paper sling. Transfer to the oven and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, until puffed, bronzed, and moderately jiggly when the pan is shimmied. If you’d like more color on top when finished, you can run it under the broiler for 2 or 3 minutes.
To finish and serve, transfer the loaf pan to a cooling rack and let it cool at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or transfer it to the refrigerator and cool it for one hour.
Use parchment paper to lift and remove cheesecake from the loaf pan and transfer it to a plate. Cut into 1-inch slices for serving. The cheesecake can be served cool or at room temperature.
It will stay good for 5 days in the refrigerator, if it lasts that long.
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