Dessert: <font color="orange">Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pumpkin Seed Brittle</font>
I'd never made brittle before. It took me two tries, and I still wasn't so happy with the final product. I'll keep trying. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
3 C Sugar
1.5 C Water
1.5 C raw Pumpkin Seeds
.5 t Cinnamon
.5 t Cayenne
Boil the sugar and water. Clamp the lid on for 3 minutes to let steam build and roll down the sides, catching any crystals on the sides.
Meanwhile toss the seeds and spices. Don't worry about the raw seeds; they'll cook in the hot syrup. (Pictured below are roasted adult seeds. On my second try I used raw young seeds instead.)
When the syrup turns light amber, add the seeds. Note that this picture is NOT THERE YET. If you add the seeds now, you'll get really nasty brittle, and have to try a second time. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Pour onto a silicon mat and let cool.
Break into bitty pieces.
The cheesecake is more standard, but turned out really well.
.5 box Graham Crackers
3 T Sugar
.5 t ground Ginger
.5 t Cinnamon
.25 t Cloves
6 T Butter
Cut a piece of parchement paper longer than your springform pan is around.
Cut a long strip taller than the pan is tall and cut a square bigger than the pan. Fold the square into 16ths, as shown.
Cut the paper at the radius of your pan. Unfold and you get a circle. (Hexadecagon = Circle.) Brush melted butter in the pan and line the bottom with your circle and the sides with your strip.
Crush the graham crackers and stir in the dry goods. Melt the butter and stir in. Pour into the bottom of a springform pan and tap down.
1.5 lb Cream Cheese
1.5 C sugar
1 t Cinnamon
.5 ground Ginger
pinch Nutmeg
pinch Cloves
pinch Allspice
pinch Salt
1 lb roast Pumpkin
1 T Vanilla Extract
1 T Lemon Juice
5 Eggs
1 C Cream
Mix cream cheese for a minute and then slowly add dry goods, scraping down a lot.
Add pumpkin, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat another minute. Add eggs slowly, scraping down even more. Pour into pan.
Bake in a hot water bath in a 325 oven for an hour and a half. Then turn off the oven and let cool for an hour. Then move to the fridge for 6 hours. Then despringform.
Cut and serve with brittle.
