If you love cheesecake, you HAVE to try this pumpkin cheesecake recipe variation!! It is the perfect mix of cheeses with a twist, pumpkin and white chocolate! Trust me, it even surprised me, but now I can’t get enough of the crunchy base, mixed with a delicious and moist filling AND Pumpkin Cheesecake is perfect for a Halloween treat!

INGREDIENTS:

Prep Time 10 Minutes

• 150g butter

• 250g Philadelphia cheese block

• 250g ricotta

• Cinnamon

• Ground nutmeg

• 200g sugar

• 200g pumpkin puree (this can be prepared earlier)

• ½ block white chocoalate

• 4 eggs

• ½ lemon

• 100ml milk

• 250g gingernut biscuits

UTENSILS:

• Chopping board

• Rolling pin

• Clear plastic resealable bag

• Circular baking tray with detachable base

• 2 x mixing bowls

• Tablespoon

• Baking paper

COOKING METHOD:

1. Melt butter in the microwave for between 30-50 seconds.

2. Put all of the biscuits inside the resealable bag and place it on the chopping board, flattening it out so the biscuits are all lying down.

3. Begin hitting the biscuits with a rolling pin until they all crumble and then continue to crush them by rolling the pin back and forth over the top of it.

4. Pour the biscuit crumble into a mixing bowl and add the melted butter over the top, mixing it well with a spoon.

5. Using a kitchen brush, scoop up the leftover melted butter and line the bottom and the sides of the baking tray.

6. Stretch out a large sheet of baking paper and cut a circle out of it, the same size as the base of your tray. Using another piece, cut a long strip of baking paper which is the width of the sides and line each inside the tray. It will stick well because the butter acts like a glue!

7. Pour the biscuit mix into the tray, on top of the baking paper and try and flatten it out, making it as even as possible. This is the base of your cheesecake and needs to stay in the fridge for the next half an hour to mind well and harden.

8. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

9. Inside a large mixing bowl, add: the Philadelphia block, ricotta and the pumpkin puree.

10. Next add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, the juice of half a lemon and 2 x eggs.

11. Separate the other two eggs, dividing the yolks and the egg whites and only adding the yolk to the rest of the mixture.

12. Add 100ml milk and mix it really well using an electric hand mixer.

13. Once it is mixed together really well and the texture is beginning to smooth, it is ready!

14. Pour this mix on top of the base (as long as the base has been in the fridge for half an hour, otherwise wait until it has)

15. Cover the shelf, one level down from where you are going to place your cake in the oven, with a sheet of alfoil. This will catch any excess liquid that drips from the cake and stop you from making a mess in your oven!

16. Place the cake in the oven and let it cook at this temperature for an hour.

17. Once the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes to ½ hour.

18. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave and then pour it over the top of the pumpkin cheesecake, spreading it out evenly to cover the cake using the back of a spoon.

19. Let this rest for another 20 minutes or until the chocolate has set.

HOW TO SERVE:

1. Once you are happy that the chocolate has hardened, enough, open up the tray and remove the cake, and peel away the baking paper, revealing a delicious, crusty cheesecake edge where some of the chocolate will have drizzled through.

2. Slice a delicious piece of pumpkin cheesecake and serve it onto a white plate – and if it’s Halloween, make sure you decorate it with some fun pumpkin heads and witches hats

E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate…Enjoy!