Autumn is fully upon us.
When I think of Autumn I think of colours, warmth and spice. I love walking through crunchy leaves that have fallen from trees with their vast array of orange, red and yellow colours. Autumn also makes me think of spice and warmth as the nights starts to get chilly all I can think of having is some hot comforting soup.
Pumpkin is a very autumnal vegetable and when autumn arrives I always attempt to make something sweet with pumpkin. I have previously made pumpkin scones and pumpkin strudel with molten chocolate, both were so delicious. I always have been interested in pumpkin pie, I did make one when I was younger but it didn’t turn out well :s. maybe one day I will aim to make another.
When I make pumpkin recipes I do prefer that the pumpkin doesn’t taste so raw, I like the pumpkin to be sweet but not too sweet just sweet enough to take the taste of pumpkin away. I also like there to be enough spice.
I really enjoyed these cheesecakes they were full of spice (I added a lot more), the texture was soft and moist and were generally yummy!
The only downside I would say was I just had enough mixture to make 12 mini cheesecakes, I prefer there to be a bit more mixture so they are taller. When I make these again I will have to adjust the cheesecake mixture so I can get a lot more mixture from it.
- 12 - Oreo cookies (whole)
- 1/2 tbsp - caster sugar
- 30g - unsalted butter, melted
- 280g tub - Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup - brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup - pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg - room temperature
- 1 tbsp - Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 tsp - pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp - pumpkin pie spice
- 300ml - double cream
- 3 tbsp - icing sugar
- 2 tsp - pumpkin spice
- 1. Preheat the oven to 175°C and tin and grease a mini tin.
- 1. Process the cookies and sugar in a food processor until ground into fine crumbs or bash in a bag. Then add the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is set, about 5 minutes. Set on a cooling rack while the filling is prepared.
- 1. Beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar, pumpkin, Greek yogurt or sour cream, egg, vanilla, pumpkin spice, and beat until smooth and well combined, don't over mix.
- 2. Divide the filling evenly between the 12 cavities. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 12-15 minutes or until set but just a bit wobbly in the center. Begin checking for doneness after 10 minutes, as oven temperatures vary considerably. Cool completely in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
- 1. In the stand mixer whip the cream, sugar and spice until it forms stiff peaks. Decorate to your liking and dust with extra spice.
