The other night we had dinner with friends and they brought out 2 flavors of ice cream which were billed as their favorite combination. Much to my surprise, the combo was: Mexican Chocolate and Pumpkin. My first reaction was skepticism, but my first bite was DELICIOUS. I was inspired by my experience with that most excellent and satisfying mix of dark chocolate, cinnamon, and pumpkin, so the next night I invented this cheesecake combining those flavors. Not to brag, but... it was SMASHING.



A lot of cheesecake recipes (including one of my very own!) ask you to cook a cheesecake in a water bath. That is what I refer to as "a royal pain in the a$$." If you don't use the water bath, what will happen? The top of the cheesecake might crack! In fact, it probably will. But big frickin' deal. Last time I used a water bath it leaked and the crust got wet. I would rather be lazy and have cracks than do extra work and end up with a wet crust. But if you *heart* water baths and simply must have a non-cracky top, then wrap your springform pan in a couple layers of heavy duty foil, put it into a pan with hot water, and cook it at 350. It should take about the same amount of time. If it gets wet or cracks anyway I'm not taking responsibility.

I served this with a choice of whipped cream or ice cream and I think if you wanted to be fancy you could work in some kind of warm dark chocolate sauce to serve with it. I considered coating the whole thing in a dark chocolate ganache, but I thought it might overwhelm it. I still think that. But a few swirls of fudgy sauce on the side sure couldn't hurt.


Pumpkin Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Crust

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cinnamon graham crackers
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3 Tblsp cocoa powder
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• 1/2 cup mascarpone
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tblsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch ground ginger
• 1 cup solid pack pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Crush the graham crackers into crumbs (I used a food processor.)
• Melt the butter and stir in the cocoa powder. Add the butter mix to the crumbs and combine.
• Press crumb mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and lower oven temp to 300.
• Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, creme fraiche, mascarpone, and sugar in a mixer until smooth.
• Add spices and pumpkin mix and beat to combine.
• Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
• Pour on top of crust. Bake at 300 degrees for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cheesecake should be set but still a bit wobbly when you shake it.
• Remove and cool on the counter for about 15 minutes. Put in fridge for at least 2 hours to finish chilling and setting.