Cooking Tomorrow

After our puppet show and Thanksgiving deliveries tomorrow, the grandgirls and I will be coming home and preparing our traditional pumpkin cheesecake with a maple-bourbon sauce. Our family has been enjoying this delectable dessert since the recipe first appeared in New York Magazine back in 1991. Even if you have already planned your menu for Thursday, this is one recipe that you might want to put on file for a later date. Once the final product is complete, I will add a photo.

Ingredients:

CRUST

1 1/2 cups Gingersnap cookie crumbs, (about 1/2 lb. gingersnaps)

3/4 cup Chopped pecans, or walnuts

6 tablespoons Unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

1/2 pound Cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg, freshly grated

1 cup Pumpkin puree, unsweetened

5 large Eggs

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

MAPLE-BOURBON SAUCE

1/4 cup Maple syrup

3 tablespoons Bourbon

1 cup Light cream

1/4 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise

3 large Egg yolks

1/4 cup Sugar

3/4 teaspoon Cornstarch

1/3 cup Heavy cream, whipped

Directions:
1. Crust: Lightly butter a 10x2 inch round cake pan. Combine gingersnap crumbs, nut, and butter in a bowl, and mix well. Press mixture firmly into prepared pan, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make Filling: In a bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugars and spices, beat until light in texture, 3-4 min. Add pumpkin puree and mix until just blended. Stir in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl after each addition. Stir in cream. Pour batter into crust, and put cake pan in a roasting pan. Add hot water to roasting pan halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake in center of oven until cheesecake is firm to touch and slightly puffed, about 50 minutes. Let cheesecake cool on a wire rack for about 45 minutes. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. When cheesecake is completely chilled, lower pan into a hotwater bath for 2-3 min. to loosen the crust. Invert a large, flat plate on top of cheesecake; invert pan, and remove. Put a second plate on bottom of cheesecake, and turn it right side up. Cut with a hot knife, and serve with Maple-Bourbon Sauce. Cheesecake will keep for 4-5 days in refrigerator and 2 weeks in the freezer.

3. Maple-Bourbon Sauce Combine maple syrup and bourbon in a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by 1/3, about 10 minutes; set aside to cool. Put light cream and vanilla bean in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat, and let bean infuse cream for about 10 minutes. Remove bean, and scrape pulp into cream. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Stir in 1/2 C. cream and return mixture to saucepan with rest of cream. Stirring continuously, cook over low heat until thickened enough to coat back of a wooden spoon, 5-8 minutes. Add reduced maple syrup and bourbon, and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl set in ice. Stire until completely chilled, then fold in whipped cream.