Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake

Looking for an elegant alternative to pumpkin pie? Want to enjoy the holidays without ruining your waistline? I have the recipe for you and a book to recommend. Marisa Churchill, a contestant on Season 2 of Top Chef and San Francisco resident, has recently published an inspired collection of low calorie desserts, called, Sweet & Skinny: 100 Recipes for Enjoying Life’s Sweeter Side Without Tipping the Scales.
Click on the book to purchase it at Amazon.com.

I recently spent an evening with her since we share a mutual friend, and she told me that the Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake in the book is one of her favorites, so I made it for my annual Halloween Dinner Party (more recipes to follow from that event). It was divine. The flavor of the cheesecake is subtle and sophisticated. It’s not too sweet, but it still retains the yummy flavors reminiscent of your favorite pumpkin desserts.

Marisa Churchill

The book is full of fabulous recipes and Marisa really takes the time to explain the techniques. She provides sugar-free alternatives for each dessert as well as all of the nutritional information you need to stay on track (calories, grams of fat, etc.) and stay healthy. Get this book in time for the holidays! There are lots of cookie recipes to satisfy all of your Christmas cookie-baking needs!

Click here to Follow Marisa on Twitter.

Like Marisa Churchill’s page on facebook.

Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake
Serves 12
From the book, Sweet & Skinny: 100 Recipes for Enjoying Life’s Sweeter Side Without Tipping the Scales

Ingredients

For the Crust
Nonstick pan spray
6 oz honey graham crackers (about 10 cookie sheets)
2 Tbsp 1% or 2% milk

For the Cheesecake
8 oz (1 cup) reduced-fat Kraft cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup nonfat sour cream, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 egg whites from large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp reduced-fat ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp large pecan pieces, toasted for garnish (I used hazelnuts)
2 Tbsp pomegranate seeds for garnish

Method

For the crust

1. Coat 9-inch springform pan with pan spray. Break up the graham crackers and process them in a food processor until they are reduced to very fine crumbs. Add the milk and process for 30 seconds, or until the crumbs hold together when you squeeze them in your fist.

2. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Press the crumbs firmly over the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan, using your finger-tips to compress them.

For the cheesecake

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚F with a rack in the lower third of the oven.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until it is completely smooth and well blended. (If using a standing mixer, use the paddle attachment). Add the sour cream, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; mix for 2 to 3 minutes longer to blend well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and cloves and mix for 1 minute longer. Add the ricotta and mix just until it is incorporated.

3. Pour the batter over the crust and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the cheesecake jiggles only slightly in the center when you gently shake the pan. (If the cheesecake browns too quickly or begins to crack, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top, without touching the filling, for the remaining baking time).

4. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour. Then run a knife around the edge of the pan if needed to loosen the cheesecake, remove the outer pan ring, and transfer the cake, on its base, to a serving plate. Cover the cake loosely with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

To serve: Cut the cheesecake into 12 wedges, and garnish them with the toasted pecans and pomegranate seeds.

Refrigerate any leftover cheesecake, tightly covered, for up to 3 days.

Nutritional Information:
Calories per serving: 221
Grams of fat: 9.5g

Watch Marisa whip up a Chocolate Mousse with Olive and Sea Salt:

Halloween Party Dish

Halloween = parties for me, so I’m always on the lookout for inspiring buffet food. I can’t remember where I first saw the idea of having guacamole come out of pumpkin as if the Jack O’Lantern is throwing up, but I thought it was hilarious. If you know the source, please tell me and I will attribute it.

The recipe for guacamole here is a little different than what you might usually have. Here, it is prepared the Guatemalan way (our Guatemalan friend showed me how to do it). She leaves the avocado in big chunks and chops the tomatoes in large cubes. This approach seemed particularly appropriate for the presentation and turned out to lend great flavor. Now when I make guacamole at home, I always do it this way.

Guacamole the Guatemalan Way
Serves 8-10 as a party starter

Ingredients

2 ripe but not mushy avocados, chopped in large cubes
1 medium tomato, chopped in fairly large chunks
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 fresh green chile, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lime

1 Bags of Multi-Colored Tortilla Chips

Method

1. In a large bowl, gently toss (so as not to mush the avocado), the avocado, tomato, red onion, green chile, cilantro, salt and lime juice. Leave the pit in until you are ready to transfer to the platter. Chill in the fridge until 15 minutes before guests arrive.

Presentation

1. Carve a small pumpkin to have a face that looks like it is puking. Haha. Place it on a large platter with a candle inside. Spoon the guacamole onto the platter in front of the jack o’lantern’s face. Distribute multi-colored tortilla chips around the perimeter of the guacamole. Enjoy! Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

There’s nothing likely whipping up a little quick bread (muffin, cupcake, bread, whatever) to satisfy the baking need. Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients. Put them together without overmixing, bake and voila! A sweet, sumptuous little treat in no time.

October = pumpkin for me, in case you didn’t know. Psst. There are like 40 pumpkin recipes in this blog. I’ve done pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies before, but never pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (or cupcakes as the case may be). Some people love the combo, and I am one of them. These are equally good with or without the icing, I think. So if you can’t be bothered with the icing, don’t be!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 18-20 cupcakes

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups canned pure pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1 tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the frosting:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Prepare muffin tins by either spraying them with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

4. In three batches, add the flour to the wet ingredients and stir to incorporate. Don’t overmix, but incorporate thoroughly.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups at least 3/4 of the way full. I like to create a big muffin top, so I fill them almost all the way.

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top and a knife inserted comes out clean. If you have to have two layers of tins in your oven, rotate them halfway through the cooking time for even baking.

To make the icing:

1. While the muffins are baking, you can make the icing. With an electric hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and confectioner’s sugar until completely smooth, Allow to chill if need be.

To ice the cupcakes:

1. Once the cupcakes come out of the oven, they will need to cool before you can ice them. Once they are cooled, you can fill a pastry bag with your icing and pipe it out into large concentric circles.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Cardamom Spiced Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Pumpkin is kind of a thing around here if you haven’t already noticed. What better way to put canned pumpkin to good use than to make it into ice cream? Well, making it into sorbet maybe if you’re vegan or lactose-intolerant. I’ll have to try that next, but for now, I just couldn’t resist making a full-throttle, (read full-fat) ice cream.

Hey, do you know about Cardamom? It’s a Indian spice with an aromatic flavor. It’s a truly unique taste. You can buy it in pods, which keep longer, or you can buy it already ground. I used the ground version in this recipe for simplicity’s sake. It’s on the pricy side (actually, it’s the most expensive spice on the market, even more than Saffron. Isn’t that cool)? It can be left out, but if you want to try something new, you can also use it in this recipe for Pumpkin Cardamom Crackle Custard and in lots of Indian dishes.

This is kind of a 2-day process unless you start early in the morning, so be prepared to wait to sink your teeth (ouch)! into this ice cream.

Custard in the Ice Cream Maker

Starting to freeze

Ice cream churning

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Cardamom Spiced Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
Serves 8? or 2
This recipe was inspired by David Lebovitz’s Pumpkin Ice Cream post, but then I kind of changed it. He adapted a recipe from the book The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own by Karen DeMasco & Mindy Fox.

Ingredients

5 egg yolks (large eggs)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup 1% milk (it’s what I had)
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsb granulated sugar (the white kind)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (I like nutmeg. You could cut back on this)
1 whole cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin purée

Method

1. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and set aside.

2. Make an ice bath (ice and water in a big bowl) and place another bowl in it.

2. In a medium sauce pan, mix together the heavy whipping cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, and salt. Gently heat until the edges are bubbling. Add about half of the liquid to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Pour that mixture in a steady stream (stirring all the time) back into the saucepan. Continue heating and stirring until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spatula. If you have a thermometer, the temperature of the liquid should be about 160˚F – 170˚F. Pour mixture through a fine strainer into the bowl nestled in the ice bath. Add the brown sugar and stir to mix and dissolve. Allow to cool and then cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Chill the canned pumpkin too while you’re at it. Make sure that the bowl of your ice cream maker freezes overnight too.

3. Mix together the chilled custard, the pumpkin and the vanilla. At this point, you could press the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer (David Lebovitz did), but I skipped that step to see if I could and it came out great. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and run for about 25 minutes or until ice cream stops looking like a custard and starts looking like ice cream. Remove immediately to a storage container and continue to freeze in the freezer.

Cardamom Spiced Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce

Pumpkin month continues here at StreamingGourmet. I love to make savory pumpkin dishes and this is one of my favorites. You can use this sauce with Gnocchi or Ravioli stuffed with squash or pumpkin, or penne, shells or spaghetti. You can make a vegan version (see the link at the bottom) or you can load it up with butter, cream, and cheese. Either way, go easy on the nutmeg. A pinch goes a long way. You could add a little cinnamon, but I don’t like it when these sauces start to taste like pie. We’ll get to pie later.

Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb pasta (spaghetti or penne or shells)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried sage
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, finely diced
1/2 cup white wine
I cup canned puréed pumpkin
3/4 cup vegetable stock
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Additional Parmesan cheese for garnish
Additional fresh sage for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottom stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sautée for one minute. Add the sage, onion, and carrot and sautée until softened and slightly browned, about five minutes. Add the white wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the pumpkin and vegetable stock and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

2. While the sauce is simmering, cook your pasta according to package directions.

3. Once the sauce has simmered, reduce the heat even further. Add heavy cream and nutmeg. Stir well and heat through for about 3 minutes. Add Parmesan cheese and stir. Add pasta to the pan and allow the sauce to soak in. Spoon into bowls. Garnish with additional Parmesan cheese and sprigs of fresh sage.

If you liked this recipe, you might also like:
1. Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce Recipe at SimplyRecipes.com

2. For a vegan version: Pumpkin Pasta Sauce at Vegweb.com

3. Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi with Sage Cream Sauce by StreamingGourmet

Pumpkins at Paradise Market, Corte Madera, CA

I am currently in the process of retooling for my next blog marathon, which will commence next Monday. Last month’s 31 Days of Pumpkin was a great success, so I am inspired to push on with more daily recipe postings around a theme. Tune in Monday to find out what the secret ingredient will be. If you don’t want to miss a single post, make sure to become a fan of StreamingGourmet on facebook or follow me on Twitter.

In the meantime, I want to bring your attention to my other project – StreamingGourmet, the videohosting site devoted to all things culinary. For Thanksgiving, we’ve assembled collections of the best videos from across the web in each of the important categories: Turkey, Stuffing, Sides, Apple (pie+) and Pumpkin (pie+). To embed these collections on your website, click on “embed this” in the lower left hand corner of the collection.

Click on a thumbnail to view the video.

My month-long odyssey of cooking with pumpkin (31 recipes in all)! is drawing to a close and I thought, “What better way to finish with a bang than to invite other food bloggers to share their pumpkin recipes in a ‘Great Pumpkin Recipe Roundup’?” I sent out invitations on Twitter and Foodbuzz and below are the stunning results.

Click on the photos to go directly to the recipes. Click on the author’s names to go directly their front pages.

Thank you so much to all who participated.

And if this is your first time stopping by StreamingGourmet, surf through the past 30 posts. It’s been all pumpkin all the time – every day in October.

< Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes	Submitted by Rouxbe
Pumpkin Mini Pies in a Whole Wheat Ginger Crust	Submitted by 5 Second Rule
Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Bars	Submitted by Playing House
Halloween Roasted Monkfish with Pumpkin Mash	Submitted by mlazopoulou’s posterous
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies	Submitted by Guilty Kitchen
Pumpkin Ravioli	Submitted by Love and Olive Oil
Dark Chocolate and Pumpkin Cupcakes	Submitted by Life’s Ambrosia
Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars	Submitted by Megan’s Cookin
Gorgonola Mezzaluna in Pumpkin Sauce	Submitted by Local Food Rocks
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls	Submitted by Love and Olive Oil
Reese's Chunk Pumpkin Cheesecake	Submitted by Daydreamer Desserts
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Loaf	Submitted by FeliciaSullivan.com
Pumpkin Cake with Amaretto Cream Cheese Frosting	Submitted by Life’s Ambrosia
Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup	Submitted by Savory Simple
Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Rum Buttercream	Submitted by Love and Olive Oil
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies	Submitted by Playing House
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing	Submitted by The Renaissance Gourmet
Pumpkin Morning Glory Muffins	Submitted by Elle’s New England Kitchen
ABCD's Pumpkin Bread	Submitted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo of ABCD Designs Bespoke Stationary

Pumpkin Pudding

It’s day 30 of 31 days of pumpkin, my friends, and I’ve gone back to basics and back to the book that inspired me as a young home cook so many years ago. My mother gave me this book when I was a junior in college and I cooked from it religiously back then. Now it’s funny. Some of the recipes feel a bit dated. There’s even a recipe in there for a pumpkin mold: a kind of custardy, pudding-like thing that you chill in a bundt cake pan and turn out. I didn’t have the energy to actually make it, although I considered doing so just for the retro appeal and possible shock factor of the resulting photograph. (Tastestopping, here we come)! It will have to wait until next year.

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Creamed Pumpkin Potatoes

Day 29 of 31 days of pumpkin and you’re still here? You’re crazy.

Just kidding.

I’ve been doing a lot of fattening up of recipes lately and this one is no exception. In fact, I actually adapted this one from a lighter recipe in Cooking Light Five Star Recipes: The Best of 10 Years. The book was published in 1997 and is out of print, but it’s available on Amazon:

The difference between the recipe in the book and the one I’ve published here is that Cooking Light leave out the extra 1/4 cup of Gruyere that I added and they use 1/4 cup of fat free sour cream instead of 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. If I had had sour cream on hand, I would have used it, but to be honest, I had a lot of heavy whipping cream on hand because of the all the garnishes I’ve had to do this week, so I just substituted it in. Their recipe also didn’t call for nutmeg, which I added in because it’s a flavor I love to mix with Gruyere and with pumpkin, so it was a natural addition.

The last difference is that the Cooking Light recipe does not call for baking the mixture in the oven with a little bit more cheese on top. That’s all me.

This is a great side dish, and perhaps a fun addition to a Thanksgiving lineup. It could use a bit more flavor, however. Next time, I might add chives to the ensemble or other fresh herbs. The pumpkin flavor was subtle. You can substitute two cups of canned pumpkin if you don’t have the fresh pumpkin all peeled, deseeded and chopped on hand. I actually did have it on hand because of this crazy pumpkin month I’ve been having.

Creamed Pumpkin Potatoes

Creamed Pumpkin Potatoes
Yields 5- 1 cup servings
Adapted (and fattened up a bit) from Cooking Light Five Star Recipes: The Best of 10 Years
Ingredients

4 cups peeled, cubed baking potato (about 1 1/2 lbs)
3 cups peeled, cubed pumpkin flesh
1/4 cup shredded Sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese, divided
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
1/2 tsp salt (or more)
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

Method

1. Place potato and raw, fresh pumpkin chunks in a large saucepan; add water to cover and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender; drain.

2. Preheat oven to 375˚F. Combine potato, pumpkin, cheddar cheese, half of the Gruyere cheese, whipping cream and seasonings in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. (You could even pass it through a sieve to make it really smooth). Transfer mixture to an oven proof dish like a Gratin dish and sprinkle remaining Gruyere on top. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Spice Pumpkin Custard w. Orange-Infused Granola

Day 27 of 31 days of pumpkin and I have to say this recipe is a real highlight. How could it not be? I’ve taken a layman’s stab at a recipe in Claire Clark’s stunning book, Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts.

Who is Claire Clark, you ask? Why, she is simply one of the world’s greatest pastry chefs. Back in London after spending 4 years as head pastry chef of The French Laundry in Yountville, CA, she’s currently working on a project of her own which is set to open in the Spring 2010. Indulge is an amazing book, as is the French Laundry Cookbook itself.

The granola on top of the custard is literally one of the best tasting things I’ve ever put in my mouth and I’ve eaten at The French Laundry. Twice. That I can make this at home anytime I want is a true revelation. Now I’m thinking I should do a mega marathon, like cook through her entire book of 100 recipes in a year or something. Oh wait. That’s been done already.

Spice Pumpkin Custard w/ Orange Infused Granola

I read in the French Laundry Cookbook that Thomas Keller dictates that a liquid in his kitchen should never pass from one pot to another without first passing through a sieve. Claire Clark’s recipe reminded me of that today and the pumpkin custard passes through a sieve TWICE. I love it. It really makes a difference and is something I want to do more in my everyday cooking life.

Spice Pumpkin Custard w/ Orange Infused Granola

Spice Pumpkin Custard with Orange-Infused Granola
Serves 6

This is my simplified version of Claire Clark’s recipe. She of course, uses real pumpkin in her version and has you boil it in milk and use some of the reserved milk. Yum. She also reports all of her measurements by weight. I’ve converted many of them here to volume measurements for ease of use, in case you don’t have a kitchen scale (I do and I was so happy to have it today). If you want the real Claire Clark recipe, you’ll have to buy the book.

Ingredients for the Custard

1/2 cup milk
13 oz canned puréed pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 medium eggs
2 1/4 oz caster sugar
1 1/4 oz dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients for the granola

1/2 cup demerara sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 oz dessicated coconut
3 oz pecan nuts, roughly chopped
3 oz slivered almonds
4.5 oz large rolled oats
2 Tbsp canola oil
grated zest of 2 oranges

Method for the Granola

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Put the sugar in a large pan with the honey, maple syrup, butter, and vanilla extract and bring slowly to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. I started out on very low heat, and as everything melted and dissolved, I increased it to medium-low heat.

2. Remove from the heat and add the coconut, pecan nuts, almonds and the oats. Mix well, and then quickly stir in the canola oil and orange zest. Work fast because the sugar starts to harden pretty quickly.

3. Turn out onto a rimmed baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (or covered with a nonstick baking mat) and spread out evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown, turning frequently to ensure even coloring. Remove from the oven and, as the granola cools, break it up into pieces. After it cools, store the granola in an airtight container.

Method for the Custard

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚F and bring water to boil in a teakettle. In a large saucepan, whisk together the cream, eggs, and milk. Warm it up over very low heat. While it is warming, add the pumpkin purée by passing the canned pumpkin through a sieve on its way into the mixture. Then add the caster sugar, brown sugar, all of the spices and mix well. Stir over very low heat until sugars are dissolved. You’re only heating it to help the sugars dissolve. Remove from heat and whisk in the melted butter. Pass the mixture through a sieve again.

2. Divide evenly among 6 ramekins and lay them in a roasting pan. Place the roasting pan in the oven and then pour near boiling water into the pan until it reaches about 1/2 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set. The tops should spring back when you press lightly on them. Remove the dishes from the roasting pan and let cool, then transfer them to the refrigerator where they should chill completely. Serve with the granola sprinkled on top.