Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Great Early Pumpkin

We were graced with an early pumpkin in the garden. A medium in size cutie. There are a few other pumpkins left to mature, a bigger one and a smaller one. With the leaves turning on the trees , the plant is still producing flowers (fritters anyone?) and I looked yesterday and saw a few tiny pumpkins starting as well. I wonder if those babies will make it before the first frost, not likely. I made puree out of the early one. I had some to use right away and I canned some. Unfortunely, my first ever mis-hap in canning happened with my precious puree, the jars didn't seal properly. I was told that the larder smelled of not so nice cheese! Upon inspection I found the jars leaking- Bugger! Well, at least I had some fresh to use in a recipe right away and we snacked on the roasted seeds.



This is the cheesecake I made with the puree. For this particular cheesecake I used gelatin sheets to gain the firmness needed in the cake and the pumpkin topping (no bake in other words, besides the crust). The cheese filling has cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. For the topping I sweetened the pumpkin puree slightly and added spices- cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and mostly importantly for me was cardamom. The crust is pecan shortbread crunched up and a little sugar and butter added. I also chucked in a bit more chopped pecans. I baked this crust and let it cool. Layer the fillings and chill for many hours in a refrigerator. Like most cheesecakes the next day is best, as all the ingredients meld and mellow together.

No comments:

Post a Comment