Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

This Thanksgiving I was looking for new ideas for a dessert. I didn't want to make the pumpkin pie as I  made it last year. So, decided to browse through some sites online. I came across this recipe of Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake on the internet and liked it a lot. When I read it, I thought it would be a lot of work, but the effort was worth trying it out. So, decided to share it with all of you. I tweaked a few ingredients to my liking.

INGREDIENTS

CRUST

• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk

Filling:

• 4-8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tins of Ed Smith Pumpkin Pie filling
• 2 tbsp Jamaican Spiced Rum

Pan:

• 1 9-inch diameter, 3 inch tall spring form pan

METHOD:

• Pulse pecans, flour, sugar, and crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and egg yolk. Pulse until mixture is combined together. Press into bottom of 9” spring form pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375°F. Remove from oven and let cool.
• Drain or strain any liquid from pumpkin pie filling. Take pumpkin purée and strain all the liquid using a muslin cloth. Two cans of puréed pumpkin should yield a little more than 2 cups of purée, with the excess moisture removed. You want exactly 2 cups of the purée.
• Whisk together the flour, pumpkin spice powder in a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon (no need for a mixer for this step), mix in the salt, pumpkin purée, vanilla, and spiced rum. Beat in the eggs.
• In a large bowl with the help of a mixer combine the cream cheese and the brown sugar until fully creamed and smooth (no lumps). Gradually add the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
• Place crust-baked spring form pan in the middle of two layers of large sheets of aluminium foil (to help prevent water-bath moisture from leaking into the pan). Fold the aluminium foil up the sides of the pan and trim. Place the aluminium wrapped pan in a large roasting pan (large enough so that there is room on all sides). Pour the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the spring form pan.
• Place the roasting pan containing the spring form pan in a 325°F oven on the middle rack. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the side of the spring form pan. Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven heat and prop the oven door open. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven, cooling for another hour. Then remove from oven and let come to room temperature. Once it has cooled down, chill for several hours in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
• When ready to serve, gently remove the cake from the spring form pan.Serve cheesecake with caramel sauce and whipped cream.