Ingredients:
Base:
100g butter
300g Ginger biscuits
75g Toasted pecans
½ tsp ground mixed spice
½ tsp Ground cinnamon
¼ tsp fine sea salt
Pumpkin Cheesecake filling:
900g Full fat cream cheese
1 can Pumpkin filling ( 425 g)
200g Light brown sugar
200ml Soured cream
3 Tbsp. plain flour
3 Free range eggs plus 1 yolk lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
Autumnal Caramel Sauce:
230g Caster sugar
65ml water
90g Butter
150ml Double Cream
2 tbsp. bourbon whiskey ( Optional )
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground fresh nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
Fine Sea salt
Candied Pecans:
125g Whole Pecans
50g Caster sugar
15g Butter
Whipped cream:
300ml Double Cream
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground fresh nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp. autumn sauce
Chocolate Leaves:
Bunch of leaves ( Variety of shapes x sizes) rinsed and dried
200g Dark chocolate
Pastry Brush
Method:
Base:
Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180C/160 fan . Grease and line the base of a 23cm/9in spring form cake tin.
Melt your butter in a saucepan, chuck all your ingredients into your food processor give it a good whizz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Now on a running motor in a steady stream add your butter to the biscuit after a while it should start to come together.
“If you don’t have a food processor, go straight old school with it, pop the ingredients in the zip lock bag and smash then, pour the crushed up biscuits into a bowl then stir in the butter.
Press into the base of the tin and make sure it’s even. Bake for 20 mins, once bake set aside and crack on with the filling.
Take the tin out the oven place aside to cool on a cooling rack, then drop your oven temperature to Gas mark 2/160C/140 fan.
Cheesecake:
So, in the meantime, you want to crack on with your cheesecake mixture. Cream your cream cheese light brown sugar and pumpkin filling until smooth.
Add your soured cream and plain flour. Then add an egg at a time, beat into your cheesecake mixture until all your eggs are well combined. Finally add your Vanilla bean paste.
“Fill em up”
Poor your cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base and bake for 1-1h 45min . You’re looking for a cheesecake with a cheeky little wobble in the middle.
Once baked switch of the oven and leave the door slightly ajar for the cheesecake to cool 30 minutes. Leave all cheesecakes on the side to completely cool.
Once cool place all cheesecakes in the fridge and chill for at least 1 hour ideally overnight.
“Crack on with your Autumn sauce”
For the Salted caramel place the water into a saucepan, then slowly add the caster sugar a little bit at a time slowly, whisking until it’s all in. Place the saucepan, over a medium heat wait until the sugar has turned into a deep amber. “ It should look like iced tea….init mind blown”
“Now this part can make or break your salted caramel, don’t be scared to go a dark deep amber brown, you want it be sweet but have a slight bitter swag to it “
At this stage, take the saucepan of the heat, add the butter and return to the heat and stir until the butter is completely melted and well mixed it.
Take the saucepan of the heat then add the double cream, vanilla and spices to mix again.
“I don’t actually know why but sometimes I put it back on the heat for 10 more seconds, then bam we have the caramel sauce but to make it salted…. read the next step, go on then”
Candied pecans:
Tip: Have a sheet of baking parchment at the ready
Over a medium heat in a saucepan add the pecans, caster and butter. Constantly stirring, you don’t want it to burn. Sooner or later the sugar will start to melt. Continue to stir until all sugar is melted and pecans are well coated.
Time to move quick, tip the candied pecan onto the baking parchment and separate the nuts with another spatula. Wait for them to cool, put the nuts into a zip lock bag and smash them. Or if you’re sensible chop into rough smallish pieces. Place in a bowl and good to go. Orrrrrr you can keep them whole entirely up to you.
Spiced whipped cream:
Add all the ingredients apart from the sauce, whip the cream until soft peaks. Pop the cream into a piping bag with a round nozzle and the end .
Pipe the whipped cream in a concentric circle starting from the middle stopping until half of the cheesecake covered.
Chocolate leaves:
Place the chocolate in microwave safe bowl and microwave it until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds.
Dip a paintbrush into the chocolate and brush a thick layer of chocolate on the underside of the leaf. Leave the leaf to set in the fridge, leaf side up, allow to set for 20 minutes. When the chocolate is fully set, remove the tray from the fridge, Carefully peel the leaves back from the chocolate.
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To decorate:
Using a piping bag, pipe three rings of the whipped cream onto the cheesecake.
Cut three triangles of cardboard to make the pumpkins eyes and nose, draw a mouth then cut it out using the same material. Place the self-made stencil in the middle of the cheesecake, sift cocoa powder over the exposed centre, gently lift the stencil and you should see a face.
Squiggle a generous amount of the caramel onto the whipped cream, sprinkle some of the candied pecans , finally finish of with some of the chocolate leaves