Halloween Pumpkin Cheesecake

They make really great pumpkin cheesecakes in the US. But you don't have to fly there to have a slice, just make one yourself.

Halloween Pumpkin Cheesecake

I had planned to cook something with pumpkin ever since I got it from the Farmer’s Market last week. I have always loved this fruit. Yes right, from a botanist’s perspective it is a fruit because it is a product of a seed-bearing flowering plant. But from a culinary perspective, I would rather categorise pumpkins as a vegetable. Anyways, I love to use pumpkin in soups, chicken curry, budda-bowls and desserts. My favourite combination: pumpkin and cheesecake. Because if you don’t know it yet: I love love cheesecake!

I had bought cream-cheese from the grocery store on our weekly shopping spree, so basically I had all the other ingredients at home. Be creative if you miss out on one of them. If you don’t have Medjool dates for example, you may use the normal small ones as well. Maybe add a couple more though.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE BASE:

1 Cup Oatmeal

1 Cup double Roasted Hazelnuts

10 Medjool Dates

1 tablepoon Cinnamon Powder

1 big ripe banana

1 Cup Water

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the oatmeal and hazelnuts in the blender and pulse for a minute. Add the dates, banana, cinnamon powder and water. If your mixer cannot process everything together, you may remove the hazelnuts and oatmeal before you continue with the other ingredients. Line a round cake pan with baking paper and press the dough into the form with a spoon. Bake for 45 minutes.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE FILLING:

300 gr Pumpkin

400 gr Diet Cream-Cheese

1 Cup Diet Yoghurt

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Water

3 tablespoons Agave Syrup

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pumpkin until soft, then blend to puree. Mix with the cream-cheese, yoghurt, water, eggs, water and syrup and beat until smooth. I had prepared white omelette in the morning, so I used the remaining 2 egg yolks instead of full eggs. If you have nothing to finish up, simply toss in three full eggs. Pour the filling on top of the baked base, then shove it back into the oven and bake for an other 45 minutes or until the center is almost set.

My boyfriend Kerem is not a fan of cheesecake and if he eats some, it should definitely be a Nutella or Oreo one. He kindly tried this one last night and he really liked it. Don’t ask about me… I ate one quarter of it all by myself!