Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

Cheesecake filling:

Pecan topping:

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Spray a 20 cm in diameter springform pan with non-stick spray.

Line the base with foil before fitting the outer ring around it and clamping it closed.

Crust:
Mix the biscuit crumbs, custard powder and butter together and press firmly into the prepared pan. Place on a baking sheet for easy handling and to catch any butter spills.

Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Once cooled, place on a large piece of foil. Bring the sides up and wrap the pan in the foil so that no water can get inside.

Place in a large oven dish. Preheat the oven to 230°C.

Cheesecake filling:
Make sure that the pumpkin is well drained. Puree the pumpkin until smooth together with the sugar, syrup and spices. Sift the custard powder into the mixture while beating.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and cream cheese together until smooth. Add to the pumpkin mixture and stir in the vanilla.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan with the biscuit base and spread out evenly.

Pour boiling water 1 ½ cm deep into the oven dish to create a water bath.

Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 150°C and bake for a further 30 minutes.

Leave to cool in the oven.

Pecan topping:
Heat the butter and mascarpone together until melted. Add the sugar and whisk continuously until the sugar crystals have dissolved and the mixture becomes thick, approximately 2 – 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the pecan nuts. Leave to cool.

Add the pecan topping to the pumpkin pie cheesecake and serve with a dollop of Mascarpone.

HINTS & TIPS:
• Use pumpkin that is deep orange in colour instead of lighter yellow pumpkin as it tends to be less watery.
• The water bath helps to prevent the cheesecake from drying out and also reduces the chances of cracks forming.
• Because of the variance in the moisture content of pumpkin, your cheesecake may crack during baking or cooling which is perfectly normal. Simply cover the cracks with the pecan topping should this happen.