Pumpkin Cheesecake Frosted In Chocolate Ganache

This Pumpkin Cheesecake is insanely smooth, pumpkiny, and delicious with a gingersnap crust and a deeply rich and smooth chocolate ganache top!  A keeper for sure!

Can I give you guys a True Confession moment?

Facebook is sucking the life out of me. (That wasn’t the confession.  Wait for it.)

And in SO. MANY. DIFFERENT. WAYS.  First of all, I’m on there all the live long day because of doing stuff for the blog.  My blog is a business, and Facebook is a serious extension of that business.  It brings me a lot of page views which brings me a major chunk of my income.  Plus, it’s the main way I keep in touch with all of my blogging friends who are basically the best co-workers that anyone could ever ask for.

Here’s the thing though . . . for all of my love of FB because it allows me to feel like I’m not the only adult on the planet when I’m home with the kids . . . it is also where I receive 99% of my mean, rude, downright awful comments.  Comments that really don’t offer anything constructive, but are made (I’m pretty sure) with the sole intent of bringing someone else (usually me) down.

But that’s not even the worst thing about Facebook.

The worst thing about Facebook is (Here’s the confession)  . . . . THOSE FLIPPING RIDICULOUS QUIZES.

Which Disney Mom Are You?

Which 80’s Rock Song Are You?

Based On Your Vocabulary, How Old Are You?

I’m not even lying, those are all real quizzes . . . . That I have taken!!!

I am totally addicted to them.  It’s a sickness really.  I have wasted so much damn time on those stupid quizzes!  I really need some sort of app installed on my computer that every time I click on one this huge flashing red pop up comes up on my screen that says, “KNOCK IT OFF, LISA!!”

(No lie: I literally procrastinated from writing this post in the middle of it by taking another one!)

Should we talk about this Pumpkin Cheesecake instead?  Yes, let’s.

So it starts off with a gingersnap crust (but if you only have graham crackers, no worries) and then has this most insanely creamy and delicious pumpkin cheesecake layer, only to be topped off with a thick and creamy beautiful ganache that just pairs with the cheesecake perfectly.  I’m not going to lie, this cheesecake takes a little time (and a tiny bit of advanced planning, things need to cool people) but it is totally worth it.

There are some things to consider when making a cheesecake that I have learned after making a few:

• Your cream cheese must be room temperature.  I leave mine out for several hours to make sure I accomplish this.
• I ALWAYS use Philadelphia Cream Cheese (full fat).  I have used other cream cheeses and had bad results, but I never have a problem with Philadelphia.
• You also need your eggs (and in this case pumpkin in case you are using left overs) to be room temperature.  If not, they will chunk up your cream cheese once you add them.
• You need to add the ingredients in the order that the recipe tells you.  Eggs need to go in last.
• Pause in between the ingredients you are mixing in to make sure that you scrape the bottoms of the bowl.
• I never use a water bath for my cheesecakes and they always turn out delicious.  Yes, I sometimes get cracks in the top, but you can’t taste the crack.  If you want to do a water bath, go for it!  Just make sure you wrap the pan really well and the cooking time might need to be adjusted.
• Make sure you start this recipe (and most cheesecake recipes) the day before you need it!

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Frosted In Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• For Crust
• 1 1/4 cups (5.6 oz) gingersnap crumbs
• 5 TBSPs butter, melted
• 1 TBSP granulated sugar
• For Cheesecake
• 3 8 oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature (I use full fat Philadelphia)
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (100%, not pie filling)
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsps vanilla
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• For Ganache
• 10.5 oz chocolate (mix of dark and milk)
• 5 oz heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the cookie crumbs, butter, and 1 TBSP granulated sugar and press into the bottom of a lightly greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake for just under 10 minutes or until the crust begins to brown and is fragrant. Let cool on a wire wrack for a half hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Beat 24 ounces of full fat cream cheese until fluffy and smooth. Beat in 1 cup granulated sugar, then the pumpkin, and the spices and vanilla. Then beat in the eggs one at a time. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
5. Pour the filling over the cooled crust and bake for 35 minutes or until the edges of the cheesecake are firm and the middle still has a jiggle to it. Leave it in the oven with the door closed for an hour. Remove from the oven, run a thin knife between the cheesecake and the pan. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature before covering in plastic wrap and refrigerating overnight.
6. While the cheesecake is cooking, combine the chocolate and heavy cream in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave for a total of four minutes, in one minute intervals, stirring in between. After it is completely melted and combined, whisk for several minutes until completely smooth and there are no grains of chocolate left. (This video is really helpful.)
7. Place a piece of last wrap directly onto the top of the warm finished ganache to prevent the top from hardening. Leave it on the counter overnight.
8. The following day spread the ganache over the top of the cheesecake with anoffset spatula. Refrigerate for 15 minutes just to harden the chocolate before serving.

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