You’ve heard it before when it comes to making cheesecakes, but we’re going to say it again: Your cream cheese, mascarpone, and eggs have to be room temperature or your batter will be lumpy. Leave them out for at least 2 hours on the counter before using. Also, you might want to make extra pumpkin seed brittle—it's great on this cheesecake, but also on oatmeal, yogurt, salads, and for snacking.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes one 9" cake
Ingredients
Crust and Brittle
9
¾
6
1
3
Filling and Assembly
1
4
3
1¼
1½
½
½
1
24
8
Special Equipment
Preparation
Crust and Brittle
Step 1
Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°. Pulse gingersnaps and ¼ tsp. salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form (you should have about 2 cups). Add butter and pulse until mixture is the consistency of wet sand. Transfer to springform pan. Using a measuring cup, press crumbs firmly into bottom and 2" up sides of pan. Bake crust until edges just start to take on color and is fragrant, 8–10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let crust cool.
Step 2
Meanwhile, toss pepitas, syrup, and remaining ½ tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Scrape onto a silpat- or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread in a single layer. Bake brittle until pepitas are golden brown and syrup is bubbly, 15–20 minutes. Let cool until hardened, then break up into small pieces; discard any dark brown, bitter pieces.
Step 3
Do Ahead: Crust and brittle can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap crust with plastic and store at room temperature. Store broken brittle in an airtight container at room temperature.
Filling and Assembly
Step 4
Purée pumpkin purée, eggs, egg yolks, raw sugar, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, and salt in a food processor until smooth and spices are evenly distributed. Scrape in vanilla seeds; reserve pod for another use. Add cream cheese and marscapone and pulse until smooth, thick, creamy, and no lumps of cheese remain. Remove processor bowl from base and tap bowl on counter several times to force any air bubbles to top of batter.
Step 5
Set pan with cooled crust on a large sheet of foil. Fold foil up and around sides of pan. Repeat with several more pieces of foil to create a waterproof seal around bottom and up sides of pan. Set inside a large roasting pan or baking dish lined with a clean kitchen towel. Pour filling into crust (it will go above the crust). Pop any air bubbles on surface of batter.
Step 6
Set roasting pan on oven rack. Carefully pour very hot water into roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until edges are set but center wobbles slightly (it will firm as it cools), 85–100 minutes. Let sit in water bath 15 minutes, then remove from bath and let cool completely on a wire rack set on stove, about 3 hours. (The cake needs to come to room temperature slowly or you might get cracks on the top.)
Step 7
Chill cheesecake until cool and firm, 3–4 hours. Sprinkle with pepitas brittle before serving.
Do Ahead: Cheesecake can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap tightly with plastic and chill.
Editor’s note: Head this way for more of our favorite cheesecake recipes →
Leave a Review
Reviews (5)
Back to TopLovely hybrid of cheesecake and pumpkin pie. Highly recommend extra-wide foil, baking cheesecake at 325 (crust is fine at 350), and increasing the spices (I used 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice and the flavour was nice but still subtle), as previous reviewers mentioned. I used my fingers instead of a measuring cup to spread the crust in the pan, with the result that the corners were thicker. However, this led me to discover that I’d like a thicker, crisper crust! Most of the rest of the crust was soggy, and since the ginger snaps make it so tasty, next time I think I’ll increase the amount of crust by 25-30%. I do find it odd that this recipe appears on the BA website but isn’t locate-able in the Epicurious app. Hope the powers that be can fix that quickly.
Jane
Hamden, CT
12/27/2023
Oh heck yeah, what a delicious and elegant dessert. Perfect for Thanksgiving. I suspected that it would be too voluminous for my food processor and used my full-sized Ninja blender instead--pretty sure that was the right call. GF ginger snaps worked well. I concur with an earlier review that recommends XL/heavy duty foil. Also, the pepita brittle is more than you'll need. Half a cup would be fine, but it's delicious on its own, so just make the whole dang thing.
KHB
San Francisco CA
11/23/2023
The flavor of this cheesecake was delicious and I will be making it again! Gave 4 stars instead of 5 because despite following this recipe to the letter, my crust was wet and it could have been a little better. Here's what will be done differently on the next go so it can come out perfect: *use EXTRA WIDE aluminum foil to cover your springform pan! The regular sized foil just wasn't enough to protect the cheesecake from the water bath and ruined my crust. One piece of extra wide foil will not have the gaps that let in water. Also, I will be applying the foil snugly BEFORE baking the crust and cheesecake, so I won't have to fuss with a potentially hot pan. *I used graham crackers for the crust, and it needed a little more butter and some sugar also. *double the pumpkin pie spices for a little more flavor. The amounts given are fine, but I personally just prefer more. *another reviewer mentioned halving the salt if you use Morton brand, which I did, and thought it was the right call. *Lower your oven temperature to 325* to bake the cheesecake instead of 350* - mine ended up with a few cracks *make some whipped cream! It will add another layer of texture with the cheesecake and crunchy pumpkin seeds.
Que Bola
Tampa, FL
10/14/2023
Bake at what temperature??? Kind of a key piece of info. I had it at 350 like the crust and after an hour it was overdone so I imagine it's 300?
Anonymous
10/13/2023
The recipe leaves out some important steps for a novice cheesecake baker, like... WHEN DO I TAKE IT OUT OF THE PAN? It says to cool, chill, wrap in plastic if made ahead, but at what point does it come out of the springform pan? And if I'm making it just the night before.. No plastic? How do I store it? Also, I find it odd that they used a food processor rather than a stand mixer, which I used. The taste was ok, but I was annoyed by the recipe shortcomings.
nunya
11/26/2020
This is really really good! Cut the salt measurements in half if you are using Morton (as opposed to Diamond). The flavour of the pumpkin really comes through, and the cake is not overly sweet. Do not skip the brittle - it is delicious and makes a great textural contrast. This is not a knock on the recipe, but I tried to make this with a hand mixer and blending the filling in the order given makes it lumpy. If you don't have a food processor, beat together the cheeses and sugar until smooth, then add the eggs/yolks one by one, then add the remaining ingredients.
Anonymous
New York
10/10/2020
First time making a cheesecake, followed the recipe to a T, and it turned out beautifully! It was helpful to read Bon Appetit’s cheesecake tips too
Anonymous
Wisconsin
11/20/2019