Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake from Smitten Kitchen

 I made this for Thanksgiving this year and we loved it!! I couldn't find gingersnaps at the local store and will definitely try that next year.  

FOR CRUST

• 3/4 cup graham cracker (from five 4 3/4- by 2 1/4-inch crackers) or gingersnap crumbs
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) pecans, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup (45 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons (55 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• Two pinches of salt

FOR FILLING

• 1 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (95 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) bourbon liqueur or bourbon (optional)
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

FOR TOPPING

• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon bourbon liqueur or bourbon (optional)
• Garnish: pecan halves

Make crust: Invert bottom of a 9-inch springform pan (to create flat bottom, which will make it easier to remove cake from pan), then lock on side and butter pan.

Stir together crumbs, pecans, sugars, and butter in a bowl until combined well. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and 1/2 inch up side of pan, then chill crust, 1 hour, although, honestly, I do it for much less these days, often only 15 to 20 minutes.

Make filling and bake cheesecake: Put oven rack in middle position and heat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream, vanilla, and liqueur (if using) in a bowl until combined. Stir together granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl. Add cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, then add pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth.

Pour filling into crust, smoothing top, then put springform pan in a shallow baking pan (in case springform leaks). Bake until center is just set, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool 5 minutes. (Leave oven on.)

Make topping: Whisk together sour cream, sugar, and liqueur (if using) in a bowl, then spread on top of cheesecake and bake 5 additional minutes.

Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 3 hours. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours. Remove side of pan and bring back to room temperature before serving.

Do ahead: Baked cheesecake can be chilled, covered, up to 1 week.

A few ways I’ve simplified this recipe over the decade-plus I’ve been making it:

Do you have a food processor? If so, listen closely: this recipe is easier than you can imagine. For the crust, you can go ahead and grind your cookies and pecans (no need to pre-chop, although it helps to break up the cookies a little), and sugars together to make fine crumbs, then even add cold (!) butter in cubes and run the machine until the mixture clumps. You can then wipe out your food processor bowl (not even fully wash it, it doesn’t matter) and make the cheesecake layer in there. But I put the ingredients in a different order: First in the bowl go the sugars, then cold (!) cream cheese, cut into a few chunks. Blend and blend together until it’s absolutely smooth, no lumps at all. Scrape down the sides. Now add pumpkin, cornstarch, salt, and spices and blend to combine. Add the eggs one at time, blending briefly between additions. Add the vanilla, cream and bourbon, if using. That’s it; you can go ahead and pour it over the crust now and bake it as written above.

Want to make cheesecake bars? Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch cake pan with one large piece of foil with no tears in it. (I find that flipping your cake pan over and molding the foil over top and sides first, before flipping it back over and lining the pan with this foil, causes less tearing.) Coat it lightly with butter or nonstick spray. Either 1.5x or 2x the crust recipe so you have a substantial enough base for a bar. Press it across the bottom and then 1/2-inch up the sides, then chill it as you do above. Make the pumpkin layer as written above and pour it on top. This bakes at 350°F for 30 to 40 minutes (check it at 30, then 35 to be safe), i.e. it’s much faster. Continue with the sour cream topping as written. To serve it once it’s totally chilled, carefully lift the whole pan out using the foil sling and transfer it to your counter. Use a knife dipped in hot water to make clean slices, and wipe the knife between cuts. I cut mine into 24 squares.

Want to make even fewer cheesecake squares? You could halve the recipe (but use a full yield of the crust) in an 8×8-inch square pan. The baking time is 30 to 40 minutes, about the same as the full-size bars.