No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake With Toasted Pecan Graham Cracker Crust



This is another of my hubby's favorites, no bake pumpkin cheesecake. I am sure I have been making this for at least 10 years. It reminds me of pumpkin pie with whip cream folded in. It is fairly light but still rich. A small slice goes a long way, just a hint we had brought this to our life group for dessert and my hubby sliced big old manly man slices ( he likes to feed people). It was a bit too large! Keep them small.

On another note I was just curious how many of my friends out there remember how torturous middle school was? My daughter who's 11,  just started 6th grade. Well for me it has already been frustrating the stories she has came home with. To me she is an amazing  girl, very smart, bright and a very kind heart. I felt a slight sense of relief this last week as we went to parent teacher conferences and had a male teacher stand behind us to help put an end to the bullying. She also told one of the girls who has been so mean that "she is sorry for whatever you are going through but that doesn't make it ok to be mean to me".This has gone as far a 7th grade girl trying to punch her on the bus because my daughter  wouldn't move out of the seat she was sitting in but did offer for her to sit next to her. I cry sometimes because part of me would like to home school her but part of me knows this is only making her stronger and God only gives us what we can handle. So to get to my point of this part of the post ( that has nothing to do with luscious pumpkin cheesecake) is that this morning after having a fairly calm week no real bullying, a little boy had to go on to her you tube post (See old post here) and send a nasty message putting her down saying how she can't sing. So it left this mother infuriated! Not only do they feel they can pick on her at school but now they are trying to pick on her in my home! I will not let that happen. If anyone has any tried and true tips I would greatly appreciate it!

Ok so back to the cheesecake we were originally talking about before I went off on my tangent!

I once again made homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree, this time using a Cinderella pumpkin which tasted just as good as the sugar pumpkins I had been using, just for future reference. It came in our box of good from Klesick Family Farms. Other wise you could use canned pumpkin and I will pretend not to know!

Toasted Pecans. Yum!

Chopped toasted pecans and crushed graham crackers. This year I have a food processor and it did all the work but in years past cheap child labor came in handy and kept them out of trouble ;).

Toss with sugar and add melted butter. Stir well.

Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Place into 325 degree preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan add gelatin and water. Heat over low heat constantly stirring until gelatin becomes smooth and clear. Remove from heat.

In a mixer fitter with a whip attachment add softened cream cheese and whip with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice at medium speed until well blended. Add pumpkin and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Then slowly add the melted gelatin to the pumpkin cream cheese mixture while mixing on medium low until well blended. Place into the refrigerator for about 25 minutes. Mixture will start to be firm but still soft enough to fold in the whip cream. Do not over refrigerate.

Fold in whip cream to the pumpkin mixture.

Pour into pecan crust and smooth the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight until firm.



When removing from the springform pan I run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to help release the cheesecake. Serve with a little lightly sweetened whip cream and keep cheesecake refrigerated.



Preparation Time: 20 minutes ( not including overnight in the refrigerator)
Bake Time: 10 minutes
Serves: Approx 10
Ingredients

         Crust

• 3/4 cup Pecans, Toasted And Finely Chopped
• 3/4 cup Fine Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/3 cup Melted Butter

          Pumpkin Cheesecake Mixture

• 2 envelopes unflavored Gelatin
• 1/3 cup Water
• 16 ounces Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 2 1/2 cups Roasted Pumpkin Puree Or Canned Pumpkin
• 1 3/4 cups Whipping Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degree's.

Crust:
Mix pecans, graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and stir well. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Place into preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mixture
Place gelatin and water into a small saucepan over low heat and stir continually until dissolved. Remove from heat.
In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment place cream cheese, sugar and spices. Beat on medium until well blended. Add pumpkin and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Slowly add the softened gelatin to the pumpkin mixture. Mix on medium low until well blended. Place into the refrigerator for 25 minutes. Make sure not to leave for longer or it might over set.
Meanwhile beat whip cream in mixer fitter with a whip attachment until whipped. Make sure not to over beat or you will end up with butter. Fold whip cream into pumpkin mixture and pour into cooled crust. Smooth top and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to chill overnight or until firm.
When ready to serve run a clean thin knife carefully around the edge of pan to loosen. Remove edge of pan and serve with lightly sweetened whip cream.