Ingredients
Method
- Heat oven to 350°. Set a 10-inch springform pan on a large sheet of heavy duty foil and wrap the outside of the pan up to the rim.
- Process the graham crackers in a food processor until crumbs are fine. Or, put the crackers in a large food storage bag and roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed. Put cracker crumbs in a bowl and work in melted butter with a fork until well blended. Pat crust mixture into the bottom of the springform pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- While crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar, then add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in flour, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and salt just until blended.
- Remove about 1 cup of the mixture to a small bowl.
- To the mixture in the large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin and spices; beat just to blend.
- To the mixture in the small bowl, stir in the maple flavoring or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Pour pumpkin mixture into the baked crust. Spoon dollops of the maple mixture onto the pumpkin mixture and swirl in with a small spatula or butter knife. Repeat spooning the dollops and swirling until all of the maple (of vanilla) mixture is used.
- Set the cheesecake in a large roasting pan; place in the oven. Carefully ladle boiling water into the large roasting pan until the water is about 2 inches deep, or about halfway up the side of the foil wrapping the cheesecake.
- Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the cheesecake appears set but is still a little jiggly in the center.
Notes
There isn't a cheesecake out there that I haven't tried and this one gives a great foundation. It is easily followed so that even a novice could create a masterpiece. I decided to make a few changes my original recipe, that I will add in the notes below, (to change it up because I LOVE cheesecake!)
I added a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the crust, but you could easily substitute ginger snaps with excellent results. I also used a 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the 1 cup of white sugar for a bit of depth in the flavor. I used freshly grated nutmeg which as a more intense flavor than the ""canned"" variety. Instead of artificial maple flavoring I substituted one tablespoon real maple syrup.
I also blended the spices into the whole cheesecake batter, only adding the Maple syrup to the 1 cup portion used for the swirl. To make a more dramatic swirl I added orange food coloring to deepen the color of the pumpkin portion of the filling. This made the white maple batter stand out significantly in contrast to the pumpkin batter. Overall this is a wonderful recipe that lends itself to becoming a Thanksgiving staple, even for those who thought cheesecake was too complicated to attempt.