Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

A take on the Magnolia Bakery Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust
1 ½ cups gingersnap cookies, crushed into crumbs
½ cup toasted pecans or hazelnuts, chopped into crumbs
¼ cup melted butter

Cheesecake filling
3 sticks (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp bourbon
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Maple Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix gingersnap crumbs, nuts, and melted butter. Press into the bottom and about 1” up the sides of a 9” springform pan. Set aside in the refrigerator while preparing the rest of the cheesecake.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and bourbon in a standing mixer until cream cheese mixture is smooth. On low speed, add eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides between each addition. Remove 1 cup of the batter and set aside. Add pumpkin puree and spices into remaining batter and mix until smooth on low speed. Pour pumpkin mixture into gingersnap crust. Dollop reserved plain cheesecake mixture onto the top of the pumpkin filling and swirl through the two several times with a long butter knife to create the marbled effect. Place prepared cheesecake on a rimmed cookie sheet.

Bake until cheesecake is firm on the outsides and not quite set in the middle, around 45 minutes. The cake must cool completely before it can be eaten. Let it cool to room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator at least 3 hours or, preferably, overnight.

When ready to eat, beat the heavy cream with the maple syrup. Serve each slice with a spoonful of cream.