Pumpkin Cheesecake with Cinnamon Whip

There’s no time better than the fall season to start incorporating pumpkin into your cozy recipes and with this pumpkin cheesecake recipe, you’ll have everyone begging for more. Pasture raised cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs, freshly baked pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice come together for a delicious cheesecake bite. The crust is crunchy and perfect, as you would expect a cheesecake crust to be, yet it’s gluten free and made from a combination of walnuts and almonds, sweetened lightly with dates. Add this dessert to the fall calendar. Please see the video of this recipe.

Total time to prepare this recipe is 2 hr 3 min + chilling. Prep time is 43 minutes. Cook time is 1 hour 20 minutes.

Filling Ingredients

1 sugar pie pumpkin or 1 cup organic canned pumpkin
24 oz cream cheese, preferably pasture raised
1 cup sour cream, preferably pasture raised
½ cup coconut sugar
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pinches unrefined sea salt
2 pasture raised eggs

Crust Ingredients

1 ½ cups walnuts, preferably soaked and dehydrated
1 ½ cups almonds, preferably soaked and dehydrated [For those who want to reduce oxalates, substitute for pecans, preferably soaked and dehydrated]
½ cup dates, pitted
2 pinches of unrefined sea salt

Caramel

2 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter

Cinnamon Whip

2 cups cream, preferably raw
1 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Take all filling ingredients out of fridge and leave them at room temperature until ready to use. It’s best if ingredients are not cold. If using a sugar pie pumpkin, preheat oven to 400℉. If using canned pumpkin, move on to Step 3. Cut pumpkin in half with a large knife and place each half, cut-side down, on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes until pumpkin is soft to the touch.
Remove pumpkin from oven and allow to cool. Scoop out seeds and save for a pumpkin seed recipe or discard. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and then puree in a food processor until smooth. Set 1 cup of pureed pumpkin aside for the filling.
In a stand mixer, make the filling. Use the paddle attachment to whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape down frequently. Add sour cream and mix. Add remaining ingredients except the eggs and mix in well, scraping down the sides as need be. Add one egg at a time, while mixer is running, until it’s incorporated well, then add the next egg and mix in well. Turn off mixer when all ingredients are incorporated. Try not to over-mix..
Make the crust. Use the food processor to blend the nuts into small chunks. Add the pitted dates and salt and run the processor again. Crust should be chunky and small pebble consistency. Don’t over-mix.
Preheat oven to 300℉. Liberally grease a 7″ ½ to 9″ springform pan with butter, then pour crust mixture into the pan. Use a spoon to press the crust down on the bottom and up around the sides. Make sure the sides and bottom are pressed firmly, so it won’t fall apart later.
Pour the filling into the prepared pan, give it a shake back and forth to ensure a flat top, then bake in the oven for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, the cheesecake should still not be set. Open the oven door halfway, turn off the heat and let cheesecake cool down for the next hour in the oven. This is important to allow cheesecake to cool down slowly is it doesn’t crack.
Remove cheesecake from oven and let sit out until it has come to room temperature. Transfer to fridge for 4hours+ or overnight so that it is fully chilled and solid.
When cheesecake is chilled, remove the springform pan and slide the cheesecake off the bottom piece onto desired cake stand or plate. Next, prepare the cinnamon whipped cream and caramel.
Combine all cinnamon whip ingredients into bowl of stand mixer. Beat on medium high speed using the whisk attachment. Beat for about 1 minutes until the cream turns into whipped cream. Be careful not to overheat or it will turn to butter.
Combine caramel ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently so not to burn. When the syrup has thickened turn off heat.
Using a spoon, drizzle the caramel overtop the cheesecake. Next, scoop the cinnamon whip and place on top of the cheesecake. Add as much as you can! Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready.
Tip: If you don’t have a springform pan, you can use a cake pan or pie dish. Line with parchment paper, then follow the above steps. When ready to remove the cheesecake from pan, just pull the paper out.