The Craftiest Workshop

We were invited over to Chris’s brother’s house today for a Saturday Thanksgiving meal. I baked some buns yesterday to bring along but I also made a pumpkin cheesecake.

I have never made a pumpkin cheesecake although I had three hand written recipes for pumpkin cheesecake in my recipe tin. I ended up making the cheesecake with the crust from one recipe, the filling from another and the topping from another. I also modified the spices to my taste.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2 cups of graham crackers

1/4 cup margarine softened

2 Tbsp brown sugar

Filling

3 pkg of cream cheese softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp all spice

Topping

1/2 cup evaporated milk

30 Regal/Carnaby caramels unwrapped

1 1/2 cups pecans chopped (toasted at 350° for 8min)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix together the graham crackers crumbs, melted margarine and sugar and press into a 9” springform pan.

Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla till well blended. Add the three eggs one at a blending between each addition.

Remove 1 cup of this plain batter.

To the remainder, add the other 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup pumpkin and spices.

Spoon the pumpkin batter into the crust. Top with spoonfuls of plain batter. Cut through with a knife to create swirling effect. (Note: I think 1/2 cup of batter would be enough; 1 cup was too much)
Bake 45 min. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Topping

The day after, put the 30 caramels and 1/2 cup evaporated milk in a saucepan on low stirring till smooth. Stir in the pecans and let sit about an hour till cool. Spoon onto the cheesecake.

Pie Dough Dippers
A few years ago, I bought these fall cookie cutters.

I wanted to make pie dough and cut out these fall shapes then sprinkle them with cinn/sugar. It has been a few years and I still didn’t try it. I was looking through the pile of magazines yesterday that I had found at the dump and in theOct/Nov 2008 edition of Country Woman I saw this.

I took this as a sign and I decided that this was the year I would make them. I had unbaked frozen tart shells that I needed to use up so I just combined them into a ball, rolled out the dough and made some fall shapes. I sprinkled them with cinn/sugar; I prefer two parts sugar to one part cinnamon.

Baked them for 8min and they turned out nicely.

Not sure yet what I we will dip them in but it might just be whipped cream.
The dough is my favourite part of a pie anyhow.

We now have two desserts to enjoy for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you celebrating in Canada.