mulberryshoots

After staying up a few nights to watch the World Series, we have all been celebrating the 2018 win by the Red Sox (we live in New England!)  So, what could be better than to try out a new recipe – this one for a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake?

I had a few doubts about this recipe – but tried it mostly the way it was written. The major difference is that I bought a graham cracker crust instead making a springform crust from scratch, avoiding a stick of butter!

1. Take off plastic wrapping from crust – heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Take it out and cool. I’ve found that pre-baking a crust like this helps enormously when serving the pie – it sticks together better and is easier to cut.
2. In a large mixing bowl and electric beaters, mix together 3 large packs of Philadelphia cream cheese. I only had two as I thought the spread I had in the fridge was plain, but it was chive and onion! SO, I looked around and found some whole milk ricotta – added 8 ounces of that instead of the 3rd package of cream cheese. Added a cup of heavy whipping cream and beat the mixture of creams until smooth and combined – about 3-4 minutes.
3. In the creamy mixture, add: 1 can of prepared pumpkin (1 1/2 cups); 1 scant cup of powdered sugar, a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla.
4. Combine and beat until smooth and creamy. I tasted it fearing it might be too sweet, but it was delicious! I scraped the bowl with a plastic spatula and then heaped it into the baked crust, smoothing out the filling all around.
5. Covered it with plastic wrap to chill in the fridge for 6-8 hours before serving.
6. Having tasted a smidge of the filling (and the dribs and drabs in the mixing bowl) I think this will be one of the best pumpkin concoctions I’ve made as yet! I’ve always liked the idea of pumpkin cheesecake, especially when it is advertised at the Starbucks Cafes in Barnes and Noble. And now, we can enjoy our own at home!

SO, Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox who just won the World Series in Game 5 yesterday! and here’s also to the Patriots beating the Buffalo Bills tonight! We are so lucky to live near Boston with these championship teams to follow and root for. And now, we can do it with a slice of pumpkin cheesecake too! Wow!