Pumpkin Cream Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes (or muffins as I called them) for my parents when they were visiting after Ally was born. They were a great breakfast treat!

Pumpkin Cream Cupcakes
1 pkg spice cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 sugar
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake batter as directed on package. Add dry pudding mix and pumpkin; mix well. Spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Blend in sugar and egg; spoon over batter. Swirl gently with small spoon. Bake 18 to 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely. Makes 24.

TWD: Tall and Creamy Cheese Cake

This is the last TWD recipe for this year! When I started baking with the group, I thought I needed to bake every week, until I realized how much time and ingredients that took! There are many bakers out there that do participate each week, but unfortunately I'm not one of them. So, it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted a TWD post, but this cheesecake was a great way to finish off December. Thanks goes out to Anne at Anne Strawberry for choosing this week's recipe. This is a nice basic cheesecake that I chose to dress up a bit. I've included the topping recipe, as it's not a Dorie Greenspan recipe. (PS. Happy Birthday, MOM!)



Cranberry Topping
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbls cornstarch
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

In a large saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Combine cornstarch and orange juice until smooth; stir into cranberry mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in pecans. Place in small bowl to accompany cheesecake or spoon over cheesecake once mixture has cooled to room temperature.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love Fall and I am always anxious to pull out my 'pumpkin' recipes and bake! This past weekend my husband and I had some friends over for dinner and while the hubby took care of the main course (sushi), I made the dessert. Sushi and pumpkin really don't go together, but I was really in the mood for a Fall dessert. I came across this recipe from the October/November 2007 Taste of Home issue. I baked it the day before as it needs to refrigerate over night and my house smelled wonderful while baking! Some people do not like cracks in the top of their cheesecakes...I personally don't care if I have small cracks. The nice thing about this particular recipe, you cover the top with an almond topping, so it hides any imperfections. My only complaint (before tasting) is that mine did not rise as much as a cheesecake should. I'm sure it has something to do with the altitude, but I wasn't sure what changes to make to the recipe to account for this other than decreasing the sugar a bit (which I did!). Hopefully if you choose to make this cheesecake yours will stand a little taller!

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 32 cookies)

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 pkgs cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Almond Topping:

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 Tbls butter, melted

1 tsp sugar

In a small bowl, combine gingersnap crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in melted white chocolate. Combine pumpkin and spices; gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust. Place pan on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until center is just set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients; spread in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring twice. Cool. Carefully run a knife around edge of springform pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Transfer topping to an airtight container; store in the refrigerator. Just before serving, remove sides of pan; sprinkle topping over cheesecake. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 12 servings.