Today is the day that I get to make this awesome, I mean totally awesome Pumpkin Amaretto Cheesecake!
I started making a version of this cheesecake years ago, decades ago really. Seventeen Magazine published a recipe for Pumpkin Amaretto Cheesecake when I was a reader of Seventeen Magazine – let’s see – yes, that was decades ago! My sister was the keeper of the recipe, and every year I would call her up and she would read me the ingredients and directions over the phone. A phone that was attached to a wall. Loooonnng time ago. For whatever reason, I could never hang onto my copy of the recipe from year to year. This was a once a year – Thanksgiving time – recipe. So for years I just simply called up my sister and she would dig our her copy and re-read it to me. Every year.
Then one day everything changed. My sister was killed in a car accident. To say I lost a lot would be an understatement.
When that year’s Thanksgiving time came rolling around, I could no longer pick up the phone and call my sister for the recipe. Over the years I looked high and low for that magazine’s recipe. Remember, this was way before the age of the internet! I missed this cheesecake for years – it was so much more than a cheesecake to me – it was a shared memory with my sister.
Well the internet did finally come along, and with the help of a few different pumpkin amaretto cheesecake recipes, I built my own version similar to what I believe my sister and I shared each year. It is nice to have this recipe back in my repertoire, not only for the scrumptious cheesecake it makes, but also for the memories. My sister is with me, laughing with me, every time I make this cheesecake.
Pumpkin Amaretto Cheesecake
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
- 2 cups pecan shortbread cookies, crushed
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree. I used canned pumpkin.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3- 8 oz packages of cream cheese
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto
- 1/8 cup sour cream
For the Topping:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Amaretto
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Directions:
- Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F.
For the Crust:
- Grease a 9.5 -inch springform pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. I use Pam for Baking. Spray the parchment paper as well.
- In a mixing bowl combine cookie crumbs and melted butter. Mix together with a fork until well mixed.
- Using your clean fingers, press the mixture evenly onto the bottom and part way up the sides of the pan.
- Refrigerate till ready to fill.
For the Filling:
- Combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, maple syrup, and Amaretto until smooth.
- Combine with the sour cream and pumpkin mixture.
- Pour over the crust.
- Set springform on a cookie sheet.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, Cool.
For the Topping:
- Set oven temperature to 350 degrees .
- Combine the sour cream, Amaretto, and sugar together in a small bowl.
- Spread over the cooled cheesecake.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours or until well chilled.
- Remove from the springform pan and peel away the parchment paper. I sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar over the top before serving.
Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2 cups pecan shortbread cookies, crushed
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree. I used canned pumpkin.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3- 8 oz packages of cream cheese
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto
- 1/8 cup sour cream
For the Topping:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Amaretto
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F.
For the Crust:
- Grease a 9.5 -inch springform pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. I use Pam for Baking. Spray the parchment paper as well.
- In a mixing bowl combine cookie crumbs and melted butter. Mix together with a fork until well mixed.
- Using your clean fingers, press the mixture evenly onto the bottom and part way up the sides of the pan.
- Refrigerate till ready to fill.
For the Filling:
- Combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, maple syrup, and Amaretto until smooth.
- Combine with the sour cream and pumpkin mixture.
- Pour over the crust.
- Set springform on a cookie sheet.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, Cool.
For the Topping:
- Set oven temperature to 350 degrees .
- Combine the sour cream, Amaretto, and sugar together in a small bowl.
- Spread over the cooled cheesecake.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours or until well chilled.
- Remove from the springform pan and peel away the parchment paper. I sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar over the top before serving.
