Talk about a long awaited recipe! It's finally fall, and that only means one thing for the next couple months in food blogs: Pumpkins and Gourds! My favorite :) So let's kick this off right, shall we? Two of my favorite things are cheesecake, and pumpkin - so why not combine them? This was a great idea that I wanted to try and it turned out great!
Today's recipe is delicious! But unfortunately I have no pictures to offer you of the separated piece. Since I made it so late tonight I didn't have enough time to let it set completely AND taste it to make sure I give you guys the best tasting recipes I can make. (Obviously there's always room for improvement and you can bet I'll update the recipe in a few months for the holidays!) So if you're like me and are a little impatient when it comes to tasting recipes, your finished slice won't look so pretty...
But it'll be amazing! Let's get started
The first thing you want to do is cube up your cream cheese and toss it in the food processor. Whip it on low for several pulses and then switch to high. Keep going back and forth on these settings until it's the light fluffy consistency that you want. It might take a few pushes of a spatula to get everything incorporated (the cheese tends to clump into a ball on the side of the bowl if you don't keep an eye on it), but it'll be worth it to get all of your cheese the same consistency. Once that's done, drop in your confectioners sugar and pulse back and forth between low and high until it's all one solid mixture.
Now, if you want, this is a great time to stop and taste your mixture. Is it sweet enough for you? Does it taste like it would be a good cheesecake-y filling? At this point, if you wanted a plain no bake cheesecake, this would be a great time to stop. If you wanted a no bake cheesecake, I would double the recipe and stop right here, pop it in whatever crust you want and have at it!
I went with pumpkin :) Add a little over half a cup of the pumpkin puree (this is a little under half the can). Pulse until you have it all mixed together then check your consistency. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar until it's thick enough for you. Remember that we're not baking this, and letting it set in the fridge will only solidify it so much, so make sure it's thick enough for you. Pour the mixture into your crust and level it off.
Now comes the fun part! A few weeks ago Mr. H and I found Pumpkin Spice marshmallows at Wal - Mart and I thought, "How can I make this cheesecake better?" So I opted for a yummy marshmallow topping! The key to this is working with a sense of urgency. Drop about half the bag of marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds at a time. If you've never had the pleasure of "Jousting Peeps" around Easter (I apologize for that lack of experience and I'll explain that around Easter when I have Peeps to joust with), don't worry when your bowl is suddenly overflowing with a giant puff of marshmallows. Be VERY careful, your bowl will be VERY hot! Take an oven mitt and grab the bowl from the microwave, quickly take a spoon and stir the entire puffy mixture until it looks pretty liquid, then pour it over your cheesecake. If you want to spread it, make sure you're quick about it! The marshmallows will set pretty quickly and since the cheesecake hasn't set yet, if you try to spread the marshmallow, you'll just drag a whole spoonful of marshmallow around a puddle of cheesecake. If you need more, don't be afraid to melt more and spread it around your dry areas. But don't go overboard and cover the entire plate! I like to leave a little lip of just plain cheesecake so people know what they're eating.
Now comes the hard part... letting it set in the fridge. When it comes to letting things set, you can never be too careful with your time. That being said, I'll always say to leave things overnight. Feel free to experiment with setting times, but I'll leave mine firmly planted overnight. Now it's important to note that you should take a lot of caution when cutting into this bad boy. The marshmallow will stick to just about anything! So if you want a presentable cheesecake piece, treat it like a frozen ice cream cake. Take a really sharp knife, and put it under some boiling water for a few seconds then cut right through the cake in one motion. Wipe off the knife and repeat until you have all the slices you want. This should cut through the marshmallow just fine without it sticking to the knife so you'll get a great slice every time. If you don't mind a delicious mess, just grab a butter knife and cross your fingers!
Now I'd say one pie will feed about 8-10 people. And with so little ingredients, it's no wonder this cheesecake is under 200 calories per slice!
Our calorie count today comes in at: 181 calories per slice
So keep this in mind for the holidays! No need to break your diet or your waistband this holiday season :) Enjoy!
1 package Cream Cheese
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 can pumpkin puree
1 prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 package pumpkin spice marshmallows (I found them at Wal-Mart)
1.) Let cream cheese come to room temperature. Put in food processor and whip it to a fluffy consistency
2.) Drop the confectioner's sugar in the processor and whip until combined.
3.) Add the pumpkin slowly until you have the desired taste and texture that you like. If it's too runny, add more sugar.
4.) Pour into prepared crust and let set in the fridge overnight.
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