Image
Pumpkin cheesecake
Image
Pumpkin cheesecake

Pumpkin cheesecake recipe

Pumpkin cheesecake

18th October 2023

Who doesn't love Halloween? If not the decorations and dressing up then at least the great excuse to get seasonally creative in the kitchen!

According to a recent story in The Guardian, more than half of the 24 million pumpkins carved for Halloween last year were destined for the bin, and there’s a growing awareness of the negative environmental impact that comes with displaying the humble pumpkin.

Our Head Chef at our Ilkley restaurant in Yorkshire has shared his Halloween-inspired dessert recipe for a delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake. Why not try it yourself and turn your leftover pumpkin insides into a delicious dessert!

Ingredients

For the crust 

  • 170g digestive biscuits ground to crumbs
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground clove
  • 6 tbsp melted butter

For the filling 

  • 230g white sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp each of ground ginger, nutmeg, clove, allspice and salt
  • 260g mashed pumpkin, see chef's tip below
  • 680g cream cheese at room temp
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 5 large eggs at room temp
  • 120g heavy cream

Method

Ground the digestive biscuits in a food processor until they reach a crumb consistency.

Add the sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, ground clove and melted butter to the crumbs and mix well until the consistency resembles wet sand.

Press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Bake the crust at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown, for 10 minutes max.

Mix the sugar and spices together for the filling.

Mix the cream cheese until smooth in a food processor, then add the sugar and spice mix. Blend for a further 3-4 minutes until smooth.

Add the lemon, vanilla, mashed pumpkin and eggs, and mix well.

Finally, add the cream and then blend well.

Pour the mixture into a springform pan on top of the prebaked crust. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius until firm like jelly, around 1 hour.

Chef's tip

For the pumpkin mash, dice your peeled pumpkin and gently boil until soft and then mash like you would when making mashed potato. No need to add butter!

 

Read more tasty stories on our food blog

Keep up to date with our latest news, events, recipes, and new seasonal menus.

Back to the Blog homepage View our sample menus

To book a table, simply find your preferred restaurant and book your table online.

 Choose a restaurant to book