Ginger Pumpkin Cheesecake

11 Reviews
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Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro
Yield
12 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)
By Cheryl and Bill Jamison
December 2008
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Make this cake a day ahead, and refrigerate. Large crystals of raw brown Demerara sugar look and taste lovely, but the cake is still delicious without it. To prevent the crust from sticking to your fingers while pressing it into the pan, lightly coat your hands with cooking spray.

Ingredients

  • Crust:
  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 7 cookie sheets)
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 large egg white
  • Cooking spray
  • Filling:
  • 1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 194
  • Caloriesfromfat 28%
  • Fat 6.1g
  • Satfat 3.3g
  • Monofat 2g
  • Polyfat 0.6g
  • Protein 7.5g
  • Carbohydrate 27.1g
  • Fiber 1.3g
  • Cholesterol 60mg
  • Iron 1mg
  • Sodium 254mg
  • Calcium 67mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°.

Step 2

To prepare crust, combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl; toss with a fork until well blended. Press crumb mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Step 3

Reduce oven temperature to 300°.

Step 4

To prepare filling, place cream cheeses in a food processor; process until smooth. Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar and next 4 ingredients (through pumpkin); process until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time; process well after each addition. Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 300° for 50 minutes or until almost set. Turn oven off; partially open oven door. Cool cheesecake in oven 30 minutes. Remove from oven; cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar just before serving.

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Ratings & Reviews

ekmroark's Review

mf245001
October 16, 2011
Had same reaction as mf245001. Was not a real hit at the dinner party I took this too. However, it was better a few days later. I didnt like that it was runny on top and more of a pumpkin taste than anything else.

farmerjudy's Review

phirefly23
November 26, 2010
This is really wonderful, pretty quick and easy! Having made this for the past 3 Thanksgivings however, we have made a few additions that enhance the flavor for us. We use 1/2 ginger snaps and 1/2 cinnamon graham crackers in the crust. Plus we add more ginger to the crust and the filling. We also like a more pumpkin pie flavor so add a bit of cinnamon and nutmet to the filling. We are fortunate to be able to use our own pumpkin grown here on our farm, a Nantuckett Long Pie Pumpkin. Absolutely delicious!

smith3576's Review

1323kk
December 28, 2009
This was really good. I gave it a 3 and not a 5 because I made so many changes based on the reviews. I made a gingersnap crust instead of the graham - I couldn't have imagined it without it since the cheesecake doesn't have much ginger flavor in it. If you use the graham cracker crust, I would definitely up the ginger in the filling. We only had 1/3 fat cream cheese, so used 16 oz of this. I added cinnamon, fresh nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice too. We chilled it overnight before eating, but it was best 2 days later.

mf245001's Review

smith3576
December 01, 2009
I won't make this again. I made it for a dinner party and no one really liked it. It was very pumpkiny. Almost tasted like pure pumpkin. It wasn't very sweet, and it didn't have enough spices. I couldn't taste the ginger at all. The presentation wasn't very good because the top was all cracked and water accumulated on the top. The cheesecake wasn't very creamy. It actually looked plasticy.

1323kk's Review

ekmroark
October 27, 2009
I loved this recipe. I did change it a bit though. For the crust I just did gingersnaps and egg white. Easier and better flavor. Also I added way more spices. I added cinnamon, nutmeg, the ginger it calls for and some pumpkin pie spice. It turned out amazing. I cut it and froze individually wrapped slices. They were just as good when thawed in the fridge.

phirefly23's Review

farmerjudy
February 01, 2009
I made this as a dessert for superbowl sunday. It was much enjoyed. To me, I thought it could have used more ginger and pumpkin flavor and maybe some gingersnaps in the crust. Overall good pumpkin cheesecake though - and easy!!

judithrus's Review

kara229
December 24, 2008
I found the special sugar called for in this recipe and it definitely added to the flavor/presentation. The whole family loved this cheesecake. Next time I might add a little more pumpkin pie type spices. This was a nice alternative to a higher more traditional cheescake.

bbarrese's Review

Annelisa
December 21, 2008
Made this for Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws - it was the dessert that everybody loved, and my BIL wouldn't let the leftover leave the house. I'm making it again for Christmas with my family. Couldn't find the special sugar, so I used raw sugar at the end.

ZeeMox's Review

bbarrese
December 08, 2008
Wasn't such a great recipe... my roomie thought there was too little pumpkin, I thought there was too much. Whatever the case, we both agreed that it was decidedly "not good." It's not exactly terrible, but even a light recipe isn't worth the calories if you're not enjoying it. I think I'll try one of the other CL pumpkin cheesecake recipes next time around. With more spices, this might have been a winner.

kara229's Review

judithrus
November 29, 2008
Just made for Thanksgiving and was the hit of the day. Family raved! Only changes were I didn't have enough graham crackers so I used a few gingersnaps to make the crust so no additional ginger added also reduced the ginger a little bit in the filling. Texture was the creamiest. A real keeper.