Fall is one of my favorite times of the year because I love everything pumpkin! Instead of your traditional pumpkin pie, every year for the past five or so years I’ve been making a Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake for Thanksgiving. The richness and tanginess of the cream cheese is a perfect match for the sweet cinnamon pumpkin flavor. This cheesecake has become as much of a tradition as turkey on our Thanksgiving table.
First let’s talk a little bit about baking your cheesecake. The traditional way to bake a cheesecake is in a water bath. I personally have found that I don’t need a water bath when I bake my cheesecake, it does have cracks in the top but I cover them up with whipped cream. The texture is just as good in my opinion and it makes baking so much easier to not have to worry about getting a perfect seal on your cake. If you want to go ahead and do a water bath that’s totally fine your cheesecake will not crack and will have a very silky smooth texture. If you’re wanting to do a water bath there’s a couple of things you need to consider, first you want to make sure you have a piece of foil that’s big enough to cover the bottom of your springform pan. Getting that watertight seal is so important for your cheesecake to come out well. If you get a leak then your crust is going to get soggy and it just won’t be as good. The next thing to take into consideration is your water bath, I find it easiest to fill your water bath with hot water in the oven, but if you don’t have a way to pour that much hot water, you will need to fill your water bath first, then move it into the oven. So weigh the pros and cons and decide for yourself if doing a water bath is worth it for you.
For all of my cheesecakes I’ve used the recipe that is famous in New York from Junior’s. It makes the most delicious silky and best textured cake that I have ever experienced and so that is why I always use it. I do adapt it to make it a little bit different than the original but it’s pretty much the same recipe. Instead of using a sponge cake crust, I opt for a graham cracker crust. For this cheesecake I’ve also used gingersnaps as my crust which is super delicious.
First you’ll need to make your crust. Mix your graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter to a consistency of wet sand similar to the texture of building a Sandcastle. Spread the mixture evenly in the bottom of your Springform Pan and then bake it for five to seven minutes or until it is just warm and beginning to brown along the edge.
When making your cheesecake base you want to make sure to follow the instructions very carefully. For the first section you want to mix mix mix mix mix until everything is fully incorporated, but once you start to add your eggs you want to mix just enough to get everything incorporated. Mixing as little as possible at the end stage will result in a better texture.
Once your cheesecake base is mixed you’ll want to remove about half of it and mix in the pumpkin mixture. Take turns spooning in the plain cheesecake mix and the pumpkin mix so that they are stacked in different spots. Once you’ve used up all of your batter, take a butter knife and swirl the mixture around to create those beautiful spirals. Bake your cake according to the instructions and then comes the hard part, waiting for it to cool! It is so important to make sure that your cheesecake is fully cooled for four hours or overnight before cutting into it or you will have yourself a soupy cheesecake mess.
If you use the water bath your cheesecake will be flat and ready to go without having to add any sort of topping. If you did not use a water bath you will see your cheesecake will inflate and then fall a bit causing some cracks to happen on the top of the cheesecake. I personally don’t mind the look of a cracked cheesecake, but if you don’t care for it, go ahead and put a layer of whipped cream over the top and you’ll have a beautiful flat surface. Once your cake is fully cooled you can go ahead and slice and serve!
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Equipment
- Springform Pan
- Electric Mixer
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ cup butter melted
Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 8 oz packages cream cheese at room temp
- 1⅔ cups white sugar
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
For the Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter until fully combined. The mixture should feel like wet sand and should clump together.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of a springform pan using your hands or the bottom of a flat glass or measuring cup.
- Bake the crust for about 10 minutes, until the edge just starts to brown and the whole crust is warm. Set aside.
For the Filling
- Place one 8 oz package of cream cheese, ⅓ cup of sugar, and the cornstarch in your mixer bowl. With the paddle attachment, whip the mixture on low until creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the remaining 3 packages of cream cheese.
- Increase the speed to med-high and whip the remaining cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time, making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in the heavy cream and mix until JUST combined. Do not overmix at this stage.
- Separate your batter evenly between 2 bowls. In one, fold in the pumpkin puree and cinnamon until evenly mixed.
- Gently spoon the two mixtures onto your formed and baked crust. Alternate the two batters, not all of one then the other. When all the batter is spooned in, take a butter knife and carefully swirl the mixture, being careful not to touch the bottom of the pan, until it is swirled to your linking.
- Bake the cheesecake in your preheated oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the center barely jiggles when you shake the pan.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for about an hour before placing in your refrigerator to cool the rest of the way. Cool in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Once cooled, remove from the springform pan and serve as is, or top with whipped cream. Enjoy!
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