Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake—Prototype 5 (Single Recipe Size):
 
Here it is, the regular, "single" size version of this cheesecake.
 
2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese:
Prepare ahead of time 1 pound of yogurt cheese, derived from one 32-ounce container of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 16 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine 8 ounces (1 cup) of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese.

Crust:
1 oz. melted, white chocolate
2 oz. pumpkin butter (such as from Trader Joe's)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz. (1/2 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
1.1 oz. Bran Buds, ground up

Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Batter:
2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
7 oz. pumpkin butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Pour on top of crust. Then bake in tub at 300 degrees for 60 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan), cool (outside of oven and tub) for an hour, remove from pan and refrigerate.
 
I baked this smaller-sized recipe after all. I brought it on Thanksgiving 2012 to not one, but two, of my cousins, Joanne (where dinner was served at about 1:00 pm) and Lauren (where dinner was served at about 6:00 pm), and this dessert was well-received.

I also brought what was left of it a few days later to darts at Beverly's Italian Community Center, where a good handful of patrons expressed enjoyment. Steve (i.e., Lesa's friend—and mine too), in particular, raved extensively about this awesome treat, pumpkin flavor and all. I was pleasantly surprised, because about a year earlier, he did not sound all that enthusiastic about the idea of a pumpkin cheesecake. But this prototype blew him away. Smashing pumpkins indeed!

To complement this dessert, I made a pecan-flavored "disk" as well, which I brought along with the cheesecake to Joanne's place. However, that pecan effort ended up being a flop (see
Pitfalls to avoid: Unsuccessful recipes for more info).
 

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