Pumpkin Desserts

I always want pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. (The rest of family is not so keen on it; they just want my world-famous pecan pie--stolen from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.) To feed my craving, I make one (or horrors, buy one) and cut a slice to go along with the rest of the dessert buffet. And I'm usually disappointed. Somehow, most of the time the idea of pumpkin pie is better than its reality.

But, you have to have some kind of pumpkin dessert at Thanksgiving, right? The Pilgrims did. So here are two pumpkin dessert options for you to try. The first is fancy and a bit more complicated, the second easy, but just as rich and delicious. I've had both of them and they're great.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
This one comes from Martha Stewart.

Serves 10 to 12

For the crust:
8 ounces gingersnap cookies (about 32 cookies), broken into pieces
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the filling: 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 eight-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 fifteen-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin purée
3 tablespoons bourbon (don't skip this ingredient!)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325°.

Make the crust:
Place gingersnaps in the bowl of a food processor, and process until finely ground. Add pecans, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Process just until combined and the mixture holds together. Transfer the cookie mixture to a 9-inch nonstick springform pan, and pat out evenly to make the crust, lining the sides of the pan about 1 1/2 inches of the way up. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the filling:
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add pumpkin, bourbon, vanilla, and flour mixture. Beat to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.

Pour batter into prepared crust. Wrap the outside of the springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Place in a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until cake is set in the center, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Remove from water, and cool on a wire rack. Remove foil, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to overnight. To unmold, release the sides of the pan, and slide onto a serving plate.

Serve with whipped cream.

Pumpkin Pie Cake
This recipe comes from our in-her-seventies next door neighbor. She brought us a piece the other night and I had to have the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

1 can pumpkin
1 large can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat together pumpkin and evaporated milk. Beat eggs slightly and add to pumpkin mixture. Mix in sugar and spices. Pour mixture into baking dish.

Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin filling and pour melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle pecans over top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hour.