8 oz Gingersnap cookies
2 tb Granulated sugar
3 tb Melted butter
2 pk (8 oz) neufchatel cheese
-(light cream cheese) or
-regular
3/4 c Firmly packed brown sugar
2 lg Eggs
1 1/2 ts Chinese five-spice powder or
-pumpkin pie spice
1 cn (1 lb.) pumpkin
This is from November’s Sunset… Makes 8 to 10 servings
1. Place about a third of the gingersnap cookies in a zip-lock plastic bag,
seal, and roll with a rolling pin until cookies are finely crushed; repeat
to crush remaining cookies (you need 1 3/4 cups). In a 9-inch cheesecake
pan with removable bottom, mix cookie crumbs, granulated sugar, and butter.
Press crumb mixture over bottom and about 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake
crust in a 325 degree oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
2. With an electric mixer, beat together the cheese and the brown sugar
until they are blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after
each addition. Remove 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture and set it aside. Stir
the five-spice powder and pumpkin into the remaining mixture until they are
well blended.
3. Pour pumpkin mixture into crustlined pan. Drop rounded tbls of the
reserved cheese mixture randomly over the pumpkin mixture. With a knife or
metal spatula, draw blade through the white and orange mixtures to marble.
4. Bake in a 325 oven until the center barely jiggles when cake is gently
shaken, about 50 minutes. Cool on a rack. Cover and chill until cold, at
least 2 1/2 hours or up to 1 day. Run a knife around edge of cake and
remove pan sides.
Serve with sweetened softly whipped cream flavored with a little Chinese
five-spice powder or candied ginger.
Yields
1 Servings