a yummy pumpkin cheesecake recipe!
Last year before Thanksgiving, my friend Mark had me over for a super yummy Thanksgiving meal. He made the best cheesecake ever – the recipe came from the Vegetarian Times, and it's a great option for your Thanksgiving menu this year! Check it out, and if you have any great recipes for Thanksgiving, please post them in the comments below or in the Recipe Gallery!
This cheesecake is adapted from a recipe in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times, and was originally submitted by Kathryn Hostettler who won honorable mention in the recipes contest in that issue.
To make it a bit easier, Michael uses a pre-made graham-cracker crust, and also uses Whole Foods Market Organic Pumpkin Pie Filling as part of the cheesecake filling.
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Candied Cranberries
Candied Cranberries
Ingredients
- 2 Cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
- 2 Cups sugar substitute (either maple syrup or agave nectar, whichever you prefer)
Steps
- Prick each cranberry several times with straight pin.
- Bring sugar substitute and water to boil over medium heat.
- Cook until sugar reaches 230 F on candy thermometer.
- Add cranberries, and cook ten minutes or until syrup gels a bit.
- Remove berries with slotted spoon and lay out on plate.
- Save in refrigerator for adding to top of cheesecake later.
Crust
Ingredients
- Pre-made organic vegan graham-cracker crust (for ease)
Or, if you prefer to make your own:
- 10 sheets vegan graham crackers
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 oz Earth Balance butter
Steps (if you aren't using premade)
- Process crackers and salt into fine crumbs in food processor.
- Add Earth Balance and pulse to combine.
- Press mixture into bottom and half way up sides of 9 inch spring form pan.
Cheesecake Filling
Ingredients
- 12 oz. silken tofu
- 8 oz. vegan cream cheese
- 3/4 can Whole Foods Organic Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Steps
- Puree all ingredients in food processor until very smooth, about 3-5 minutes.
- Pour into crust and bake at 350 F for 50 minutes.
- Chill completely in refrigerator at least 3 hours, up to overnight.
- Garnish with candied cranberries, slice and serve.
22 comments
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question.... it says 3/4 a can of pumpkin pie filling but pumpkin pie filling comes in more than one size can. so what size can do i need to buy? thanks
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Another great recipe!! Thanks for sharing, I do subscribe to Vegetarian Times a great magazine!
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@Holly... can you tell me what maybe I did wrong with mine? It was very thin, and didn't set up very well. I followed the recipe, although I may have put too much pumpkin in and maybe it needed baked longer than 50 minutes. Should I have let it cool completely before putting in the fridge?
The candied cranberries, however, are amazing!
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I served this last night to a table full of carnivores and only two vegetarians. Everyone loved it. I didn't tell them it was vegan until they tried it and they were all very surprised. This recipe is so awesome and very easy to make. Thank you, Alicia for sharing this. I'll be making it again and again!
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(for example about the color, if you were making a vanilla frosting sweetened with agave, i would think using the light color would be best).
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@ Rhonda.. in my experience with baking/using agave, the color really only matters if you need the color to be lighter or darker. i was thinking for this recipe it didn't really matter because of the pumpkin. someone else might have more advice on that. i bought the light one to use. i think either would be fine. :)
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i'm so excited. i have leftover cranberry infused maple syrup! gonna save that for pancakes! yum!!
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i just realized i don't have pumpkin pie filling, i have plain canned pumpkin... will that work? :\
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Thank you so much! I'm hoping to get my family to appreciate vegan food with this dessert! One last question - what type of agave nectar did you use? I bought light agave nectar, but I noticed there are a few other types! I haven't baked with it before... Again, Thank you SO much and Happy Thanksgiving!
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Candice, I used soft silken tofu cos thats all they had at my whole foods but I think firm silken would work better to give it a thicker cheesecake consistency.
Rhonda, I added water to the maple syrup but not much cos I was confused as to how much to add. The instructions say add water to the sugar substitute but not how much to actually add! I would say I used about 1/4 cup of water. I have no idea if this was the right way to do it but the cranberries topping came out pretty good! I think as long as the glaze stays syrupy and doesnt look like it's getting watery you should be ok. Hope this helps!
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I'm going to be making this for tomorrow... Does anyone know if the sauce for cranberries need water as @Liz Quaine asked?? @tali - did you make the candied cranberries with water?
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Hi Everyone! I have all of the ingredients on hand to make this except for the graham cracker crust... heading out soon.
Can anyone tell me what kinda silken tofu? Should it be firm silken or soft? Does it matter? I have soft on hand and can easily pick up firm if it's necessary for the texture.
thanks for sharing this recipe! xoxo
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Chef Chloe has recipes for some amazing looking side dishes here:
http://www.chefchloe.com/recipes/category/thanksgiving.html
I also totally recommend the artichoke dip from The Kind Diet. It is soooo good.
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Mike -- if you have a Whole Foods handy, they have several prepared vegan side dishes. I also found today that they've done a vegan pumpkin pie in the bakery department. You can request a vegan prepped dish if you place your order ahead of time, too.
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For the cranberries it says bring sugar substitute and water to boil over medium heat but it doesn't say how much water... any ideas?
Thanks!
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My girlfriend would LOVE this. Quick question however: she's allergic to nutmeg I think. Would it taste bad if I left this out? Is there another substitute for nutmeg???
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This looks great and I will be making it. The question I have is what is a terrific vegan side dish to bring to a meal with a bunch of carnavores? I was ask to do this the other day.
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Yum!! My boyfriend's family always goes overboard with several different regular cheesecakes for Thanksgiving dessert. Now I'm inspired to make a "kind" version! And we have lots of pumpkins that need to be roasted :) Yay!!!
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