Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

A Holiday dessert to please two requests! My sister in law gave me this recipe from a very impressive HyVee (grocery chain) magazine that her mother brought her from Iowa. What better time to try it than Thanksgiving?













1 refrigerated or frozen pie crust
8 oz cream cheese, at room temp.
3/4 cup of sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbl rum or 1 Tbl vanilla
1 1/4 cups pumpkin from a can
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place refrigerated crust in a pie plate, fluting with fingers as shown or folded and pressed with thumb for edging. Or use my favorite brand, Marie Callendars frozen crust.

Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg, nutmeg and rum with a mixer until smooth. Spread evenly in prepared piecrust.

In a large bowl, stir together pumpkin, evap. milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, cinn, ginger, cloves and salt until thoroughly combined. Begin by pouring near the edge of the pie and slowly pour pumpkin mixture over cream cheese layer. Bake for 40 min. Remove crust shield and add steusel topping and bake for another 15-20 min, till crust is golden. Cool to room temperature. Chill and serve with Rum Whipped Cream. Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.

Meanwhile, make streusel topping.

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbl flour

2 Tbl butter

1/2 cup pecan pieces
Combine brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender (if you read my blog, you'll want to buy one!) until mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in pecans.
Rum Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbl sugar
1 tsp rum or vanilla

Beat with a mixer on high until soft peaks form.

Cooking tips:

• Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.
• Make your own crust shield with aluminum foil. Fold the foil in half and cut a half circle out. Gently place over pie. 
• Chill your glass or metal bowl before you beat the whip cream and it will go faster. 
• Don't add until it's time to serve.

Blackberry Cheesecake Tart

Today I picked up my friend to hang out for the afternoon, and we were trying to come up with a cheap activity to amuse ourselves. We decided to experiment with a dessert! As we were bouncing ideas off each other, we were inspired by our mutual love of blackberries and cheesecake. Genius! A blackberry cheesecake in my under-used tart pan.

We set to work on our little project, Madison mixed the crust and filling, while I prepared the fresh blackberries.

Preheat oven to 325.

Start your sauce on the stove top, bring to boil, simmer for 10 min. Remove from heat, cool, put in blender. If you don't like seeds, then you can strain it.

Blackberry Sauce:

1 carton of blackberries

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Crust:

3 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/8 cup Sugar

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (can be bought on the baking aisle)

Mix well and pat into a tart or pie pan, patting up sides until firmly pressed. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, they're your best tool!

Filling:

1 pkg cream cheese, softened. (tip: unwrap and put in a bowl at least an hour before)

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix until ALL lumps are gone, pour into crust, gently spreading to edges.

Next step, drizzle and swirl blackberry sauce on top! Do just enough to cover about half of the surface. The extra sauce can be a delightful addition to anything you have in the cupboard, use your imagination!

Bake for 15 min, or until top doesn't stick to your finger when you touch it.

Let cool before slicing, and enjoy!

Tips:

Buy premade graham cracker crust

Use Blackberry or raspberry preserves heated in the microwave instead

Sprinkle some mini chocolate chips on top