Whip up a pumpkin cheesecake with ginger

Pumpkin is so popular today that there is hardly anything that hasn’t had a pumpkin variation. Some of them are no-brainers, others are so farfetched that I don’t understand who is buying them, much less eating them.

Back in the day, a pumpkin cheesecake would have been unusual, today it is almost old school. But if there was ever a meal that screams for pumpkin cheesecake, it is Thanksgiving. Or the day after Thanksgiving if you are a purist and need your classic pumpkin pie to follow your turkey and dressing.

I happen to love pumpkin — in pie, bread, muffins, cake and cheesecake. And, this cheesecake is adapted from Natalie Dupree’s companion cookbook “Nathalie Dupree Cooks for Family and Friends” to her PBS show, “Food for Family and Friends.” I love to collect old cookbooks and picked it up several years ago at a second-hand store. I was looking at the book a few weeks ago, and it is surprising how many recipes are either back in vogue, or still in constant rotation.

Reading the recipe in Natalie’s book reminded me how much I love pumpkin cheesecake. Her headnote said that she made it frequently for dinner parties because it freezes so well. This year, I am traveling before Thanksgiving so I made mine, and it is in the freezer as I write this article. I hope that it will thaw beautifully, and no one will be the wiser when I serve it on Thanksgiving Day!

I have changed quite a few things in her recipe, but her recipe is what inspired me to make pumpkin cheesecake this Thanksgiving, so credit is due. The one thing that I didn’t mess with is the crystallized ginger in the crust which is genius, and makes the crust more than just a vehicle to hold the creamy fall cheesecake. One of the key things is that I altered for my taste, is less sugar. I don’t like my desserts too sweet so I use a bit less sugar than the original recipe. If you like your cheesecake sweeter, add another ¼-⅓ cup of sugar to the cheesecake mixture. I also put bourbon in my sour cream topping which gives it an added dimension and tastes like the holidays.