Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake—Prototype 1:
This one had been on my mind for a long time. I finally got around to making a baked cheesecake involving what I felt to be a popular October flavor. This first prototype was done, of course, in that very month.
2 oz. melted, white chocolate
2 oz. pumpkin butter (such as from Trader Joe's)
4 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added
2.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up
2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
3 oz. pumpkin butter
2 cups whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added
Bake at 300 degrees for about 110 minutes (with tub immersion), or until cake tester comes clean.
It looks like I have somehow overestimated the strength of the pumpkin flavor. I had the tendency to think that it was about as strong as peanut butter, so the batter got only 3 ounces of pumpkin butter, just like the 4th prototype of Baked Peanut Butter Cheesecake (the latest peanut butter prototype as of the making of this first pumpkin prototype here) got this same amount of peanut butter. Back when I made a dessert combining the pumpkin flavor with eggnog (see Chilled Pumpkin Eggnog Pie—Prototype 1 for more details), the pumpkin was overwhelming, at least compared to the eggnog. It was likely this pie (at least) which led to my thinking of pumpkin as being a very strong flavor. Perhaps a better reasoning would have been to consider that the eggnog was much too weak in that dessert.
Nevertheless, this pumpkin cheesecake was a "smashing" success at an early October "potluck" lunch at Living Hope Church in Beverly.
Repeat Prototype 1, but boost the batter's pumpkin butter by 1 ounce, to 4 ounces.
The taste had a somewhat improved pumpkin presence, and this cheesecake went very fast at Living Hope Church.
After doing a combination cheesecake involving pumpkin and eggnog flavors (see Baked Eggnog Pumpkin Cheesecake—Prototype 1 for more details), I wanted to make a deeper pumpkin cheesecake. Two 16-ounce containers of cottage cheese altogether are used for the prototype presented here. The flour used here was white whole wheat, as opposed to all-purpose. I also did some pre-baking of the crust in an effort to reduce excessive sogginess. In my desire to better ensure firmness for the batter, I used a somewhat large amount of flour and opted to bake this cheesecake for a good two hours.
1 cup (8 oz.) whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added
Pour this crust mixture into a 9" pan and pre-bake this at 300 degrees (without tub) for 20 minutes. Then cool this off until the pan is comfortable enough to touch.
3 cups (24 oz.) whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added
Bake at 300 degrees (with tub) for 2 hours.
The batter seemed to come out hopefully firm enough, and the crust did not seem too soggy either. When I pre-baked the crust earlier, however, it seemed that 20 minutes was a little too long, as the crust rose probably about 1/4", then fell back and left its outer edge running up about that amount against the inside of the pan. The two hours of baking time for the batter resulted in it having some small cracks, but I reasoned that this was okay, signifying a sufficiently baked cheesecake.
I brought this one to a couple of my cousins' homes on Thanksgiving, Joanne's and Lauren's, and some guests there complimented on this cheesecake. But I myself had difficulty tasting a sufficient presence of pumpkin flavor.
With the arrival of October (to me the pumpkin month), it was time for me to update my pumpkin prototypes with some yogurt cheese, just like I had done on other flavors earlier in 2012. In light of the popularity of whipped cream being served with pumpkin pies, I made a late decision to add vanilla to the pumpkin cheesecake's batter.
It has also more recently come to my attention that the crust's layer for many of my cheesecakes was too thick, relative to the batter's layer. So for this prototype, I cut the amount of crust nearly in half.
Prepare ahead of time 16 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from one 32-ounce container of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 16 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine 8 ounces (1 cup) of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese.
4 oz. (1/2 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.
2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
Pour on top of crust. Then bake in tub at 300 degrees for 60 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan), cool (outside of oven and tub) for an hour, remove from pan and refrigerate.
This pumpkin cheesecake got devoured so fast at Living Hope Church that I almost missed out on an opportunity to try and (importantly) evaluate the taste of this latest prototype myself. However, I noticed that there were almost no sweet alternatives (at least by the time I got to the food table) for that Sunday, which was the first one in, of all months, October, which itself may have been an additional reason (it was that pumpkin-oriented time of year) for the cheesecake's quick disappearance.
But I did get to taste it after all, and I felt that this one was great. I could indeed taste the pumpkin. The tartness seemed just about right. So Prototype 4 was ultimately a "smashing pumpkin" success.
The last pumpkin prototype was so good that I was moved to double the recipe for a later Living Hope event. Meanwhile, I had made a terrific improvement on my plain cheesecakes (see Baked Plain Cheesecake—Prototype 10 for more info), and my usage of arrowroot, as a partial alternative to flour, in the plain-flavored ones is reflected in the latest, "pumped-up" pumpkin provided here.
Prepare ahead of time 2 pounds of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine 16 ounces (1 pint) of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese.
Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.
14 oz. pumpkin butter
5 cups (40 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
Pour on top of crust. Bake in tub at 300 degrees for 105 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 105 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate.
Because of this being a double-sized recipe, longer cooking times were involved here. What would be a good suggestion for a single-size? Halve the ingredient list for starters. But what about baking? Even though I have not tried it with the very first instance of Prototype 5, perhaps using Prototype 4's baking methods would be the way to go. In other words:
1. Pre-bake the crust mixture for only 5 minutes.
2. Bake the cheesecake for only 60 minutes, then remove from oven and tub—skip the in-oven, door-ajar cooldown.
3. Cool at room temperature for only an hour, then refrigerate.
For the sake of convenience, the single-sized recipe is available here.
Okay, so I made a double-sized cheesecake compared to Prototype 4, which itself did not have enough competition. In light of my serving Prototype 5 at one of the bigger Living Hope food events—a pastor appreciation potluck—thus competing with plenty of other sweet treats, I had some second thoughts about going with the bigger size.
I ended up not regretting this size. With the main course at this church meal hardly even being halfway over (and likely more than half the people still being lined up for this course), this cheesecake was already more than halfway gone from the dessert table! Maybe some of the congregants opted for a head start due to concern about missing out on this dessert after what happened with Prototype 4 (perhaps one could hardly blame them, especially those who never got a piece of that earlier cheesecake). Back then I felt particularly bad for Gaynell, so I let her enjoy a little bit of my Prototype 4 slice. But this time, she was able to get a decent serving of Prototype 5, for which she had a very enthusiastic reaction (a display of two-thumbs up, if I remembered correctly).
This pumpkin cheesecake may have gotten off to a fast start (which got me concerned about a repeat blowout like with Prototype 4), but it slowed down later in the meal. But with only one slice left of this big cheesecake, I felt that this one was another "smashing pumpkin". The timing (late October, in 2012) may have been a factor as well.
I got so many favorable comments, and I myself felt that there was hardly any reason to keep on changing the formula. The presence of the tartness seemed to be more "feel" than taste, at least to me personally. However, although this thick cheesecake was stable enough, I thought that it probably could have been a little more firm. More specifically, I reasoned that an additional 15 minutes at 300 degrees—and another 15 minutes at room-temperature cooldown—should be considered for next time if going big like this. That's 2 solid hours apiece to bake and to room-cool, plus an intervening hour of door-ajar cooling in the oven—a five-hour stretch! Inasmuch as I ended up going with the 105 minutes indicated above for this recent prototype, I made that choice after some wavering.
Not much has changed for this latest prototype. There is an All-Bran-related change, and the salt is omitted. This October 2013 update reflects what I have done with other cheesecake flavors earlier in that year.
2 oz. All-Bran, ground up
This cheesecake was one smashing pumpkin, although there was not a big snack selection (hence not much food competition) at Living Hope. But the crowds were small (hence less people to feed), due to many women being away on a church-related retreat. Because of that getaway, I myself had to cut the cheesecake and bring it into the fellowship hall, a time-consuming process (if I wanted to do the slicing right) which I did not carry out until after services. But despite the late arrival at the serving table (thus giving other treats an earlier start) and the small crowds, this one was gone in what seemed to be less than half an hour. Happy October!
Fall has arrived in 2015! This latest pumpkin update is based upon my major cheesecake batter overhaul earlier that year.
3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG):
Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine 8 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese").
8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above)
Place the resulting mixture in a greased 9 1/2" (or 9") pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.
40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons altogether) arrowroot
Wrap the pan in foil at this point (no earlier, for the sake of minimal foil disturbance), then pour the batter on top of the crust. Bake in hot water tub at 300 degrees for 105 to 115 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan—also see comments below). Then cool down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 105 to 115 minutes (see comments below), then remove from pan and refrigerate.
Another one with a smashing, great taste! I served this one at my Home Depot workplace, where it went over well. For that one, I went with 105 minutes for both the oven baking and room cooling times. I somehow ended up sensing that the batter could use more firmness.
So in repeating this prototype, I decided to oven-bake and room-cool at 115 minutes apiece (in addition to, of course, the 60 minutes of in-the-oven cooling). The outcome was fine (not "rubbery"), and I served this cheesecake at Living Hope Church, where about 3/4 of it got taken. I then brought the rest home. A few days later, I took it to a darts event where my friend Lesa's team was shooting, and Dawne (one of the members of this team) enjoyed it extensively.
In October of 2016, I made this prototype again, but this time I spotted some pumpkin chips (Nestlé Pumpkin Spice Morsels) at a local supermarket and ended up using them for a decorative border (by adding these chips around the top surface at its outer edge shortly after taking the cheesecake out of the oven).
This chipped version ended up being a "smashing pumpkin" at Living Hope. At least 7/8 of this cheesecake was gone within about 10 minutes. There were just two slices left at that point, when I needed to head off to a meeting. So I did not know about the outcome on the remainder of this pumpkin treat. I could only guess that it was promptly finished off.
Happy Thanksgiving! This pumpkin update of November 2017 is based primarily upon a major cheesecake overhaul that I performed earlier that year.
Prepare ahead of time 16 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from one 32-ounce container of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 16 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese").
Grease a 9 1/2" (or 9") springform pan, but do not wrap foil around it yet (see below).
Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the batter (to minimize the foil's disturbance and therefore its leakage risk, do not put it on any earlier).
Next, carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 90 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chips—such as pumpkin-flavored—if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate.
I brought this one over to my cousin Joanne and Jerry's house, where it was well-received at the Thanksgiving table. I took the rest of the cheesecake to The Home Depot the next day to be enjoyed by my fellow associates.
However, although this prototype was tasty, it came out too soft. The batter had a somewhat "melted" appearance by the time I brought it to my workplace. Even the crust ended up being too mushy. My lovely work of art was falling apart on me! I suspected that the main cause for bringing on all this instability had to do with the pumpkin butter, whose near-liquid characteristic would ultimately make both the batter and crust somehow "wetter".
So I made some pumpkin-specific mental notes for the future:
1. Increase the baking time—probably by about 15 minutes.
2. Increase the xanthan gum—probably by at least 1/4 teaspoon.
3. Increase the pre-baking time for the crust by about 2 minutes.
A year has passed since I made my previous—and excessively soft—pumpkin prototype. With Thanksgiving 2018 approaching, it was time to take on this flavor again, this time with a hopefully much more stable approach (which would include "cranking up" the crust's pre-bake time to 15 minutes, among other changes).
Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 15 minutes (if the crust is extremely thick however, closer to 10 minutes might be sufficient—on the other hand, the mixture is a lot more likely to be thin enough to require a good 15 minutes), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.
Next, carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 105 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chips—such as pumpkin-flavored—if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate.
I sought to use pumpkin-flavored chips for this cheesecake, just like I had in the past. However, to my surprise, I could not find any upon my searching for them in grocery stores this fall. So I settled for caramel chips instead.
Like the previous pumpkin prototype from last year, I brought this latest one over to my cousin Joanne and Jerry's house for Thanksgiving, where quite a few seemed thankful for it.
It looked like the stability improved somewhat for this one, including the crust. While preparing the batter, I considered boosting the xanthan gum outright to 2 teaspoons, but I ended up going more conservatively with 1 3/4. By the time I served my latest pumpkin cheesecake, however, I felt that it could still use more firmness. Next time: 2 teaspoons—at least!
Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake—Prototype 10:
The quest is on for a more stable pumpkin cheesecake! More xanthan gum is used in this latest one, and the baking times are increased for both the batter and the crust. But a new approach for pumpkin cheesecakes is utilized as well—two-installment baking for the batter!
Next, carefully pour about 2/3 of this batter over the crust and place the pan in a hot water tub and bake in oven at 300 degrees for 85 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Afterwards, remove this from oven and carefully add the remaining 1/3 batter on top of the earlier installment. Return all this to oven and continue baking at 300 degrees for another 95 minutes. Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Next, remove the pan of cheesecake from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chips—such as pumpkin-flavored—if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate.
If the border decoration seems to have a somewhat weird look to it (looking somewhat like teeth to me!), that is because I used a new product from Nestlé, "Pumpkin Spice Flavored Filled Baking Truffles". I had used regular pumpkin chips in the past (with that more familiar, bulging-cone-like shape), but I more recently was hard-pressed to find them. So I gave these new pieces a try. But I wasn't crazy about their slightly rounded bottoms. I missed the flatness of the chips used previously.
However, I did not miss the mushiness of the past. The stability for this cheesecake was a great improvement with this prototype! This multiple-installment baking approach may have been the biggest difference-maker here. Come to think of it, I had used this method to various degrees in my banana cheesecakes in the past, but I didn't give that much thought in more recent times.
I brought this cheesecake to my cousin Joanne and Jerry's house for Thanksgiving in 2019.