Thursday, October 20, 2011

Spider Webby Pumpkin Cheesecake


Zoulah warmly greets you to Red Couch Recipes and says, "EEEK", the spiders have invaded her pumpkin cheesecake and have spun WEBS!  Zoulah had a little fun in her BEWITCHEN KITCHEN today.  She made Pumpkin Cheesecake and added some webby spider fun to the presentation.  Zoulah is a huge fan of spiders.


Zoulah used Paula Deen's  recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake which she has printed below.  Her recipe, of course made a good cheesecake.  Of course Zoulah recommends topping your cheese cake with some whipping cream.  Zoulah made individual cheesecakes; that was the only change she made to Paula's recipe. Her ramekins are a little over 3 ounces in capacity  She put about 2 tablespoons of graham cracker crumb mixture in each ramekin and about 6-7 tablespoons of pumpkin cheesecake mixture on top.


Pumpkin Cheese Cake Recipe

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.



Spun Sugar

Zoulah hasn't spun sugar for ages --- she usually just casts friendly spells.  She used a wire whisk with the bottom curves cut off with wire cutters.  Beaulah showed her this method years ago. 

1.  Just take about 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water, and about 1 tablespoon of white corn syrup and heat it until the boiling mixture turns a nice amber color. 
2,  Don't stir while it is cooking.  This takes several minutes.  When the color has turned, take off heat and then wait a little. 
3,  Test the sugar to see if it is ready by dipping your whisk in the sugar mixture and waving it quickly back and forth dropping sugar on a piece of parchment paper.  If it is ready, you should be able to have hairwidth strands of sugar.

4,  When the sugar cools (it cools quickly, you can break off pieces for your spider webs. 

Zoulah reminds you that this is fabuloso with other desserts.

Zoulah made thinner strands (hair width) of sugar for this dessert by directly applying the sugar to the ramekin.  When she did this, the sugar strands sunk down into the cheesecake She liked the thicker sugar strands better: she applied the strands directly to the parchment paper and then placed them on the cheesecakes when they were cool. 



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14 comments:

Sarah said...

That Zoulah is so talented! Such fun to see what she is up to during the season. ~ Sarah

Marigene said...

I wish Zoulah lived nearby, I would hire her to do some baking for me! Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts...my mouth is watering just looking...

Pondside said...

When Hallowe'en is over, perhaps Zoulah would like to come up here and do some baking for me - I'm sure she'd enjoy a change of scene and I'd be very good to her!

Lynn said...

They look beautiful, I love the spun sugar! I have finally found some pumpkin so I'm ready to do some baking:@)

Debbie said...

Well, thank you Zoulah for teaching us how to use a magic whisk wand to make that sugar.

The whole recipe looks delicious, and in case you didn't know it, today happens to be National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day. How cool is that?

Diane Hodrick said...

If you ever have auditions for someone who would get along with Zoulah and be willing to eat all this fabulous stuff you cook, I'll be first in line. You must have the happiest family on the planet. ;) What a fun way to dress up cheesecake...not that it wouldn't happily eaten naked either. I love the trick with the whisk. I am learning so much from you girls. Why is stuff so much more special in individual ramekins? Dunno, but it is so. Fun Friday post.

Lisa said...

I love using spun sugar and this is a great application. Sounds really delish as well.
Lisa

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

The spun sugar webs are a perfect touch for these, Joni! I think that whisk could stand in as a broom for Zoulah ;)

Anonymous said...

ooooh, spooky good! anne

Kathleen said...

Pumpkin cheesecake is good for people with no teeth! :)

It looks delicious. Thanks for the spun sugar, I must try that !

Jacqueline said...

These are adorable. I will have to borrow your altered whisk! I love the orange ramekins too. Pumpkin cheesecake is so delish.

Bonnie said...

The spun sugar is so elegant. This would be a great dessert for a dinner party.

Pam Kessler said...

I'm so glad I stopped over here. Those look so good and the spun sugar makes them extra cute. Now I have to check out the other Halloween food on your sidebar.

Marilyn said...

This is amazingly awesome... :)) Lovely idea..
Ps: I would love to invite you to join over 50 bloggers plus go PINK FOR CURE on Oct 30th..Painting the blog world pink a day and spreading the word on awarness, hope and faith for Breast Cancer..Would love for you to stop in and have a look..Hope u can join in :)) TY * http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com/2011/10/paint-your-blog-pink-awareness-faith.html

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