Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Pumpkin 

Spice

Cheesecake

Tasty. Creamy. Easy. This Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake is a perfect compliment for your fall menu lineup and you do not have to bake it! Adding in a little mixture of spices and just a hint of pure bourbon vanilla extract creates a delightful dish to remember. Preparation is so easy! It takes less than 30 minutes to whip it up - and this allows time for a little glass of wine. This is the perfect "make ahead" dessert - one of those "fix it & forget" dishes, except don't forget to eat a little or a lot.

Whenever I decide to add a new dish to my blog, I always like to dig up a little history on the subject. This Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake is no exception. Did you know that a form of cheesecake was popular in ancient Greece, prior to the Roman conquest of Greece?  Well, did you? Of course, cheesecakes contain cream cheese and the modern commercial American cream cheese was developed in 1872. Pasteurized cream cheese was developed by James L. Kraft in 1912. Mr. Kraft originally sold cheese from a wagon, formed a company with his brothers which became known as Kraft Foods Inc. One other tidbit of information is whether baked cheesecake should be classified as a pie, a custard, a torte, or something else. This continues to be a matter of debate for some. For me, bring it on - who cares!

Let's Try It!

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 in.) ready to use graham cracker crust
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
• 1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed
• 1 tbsp. Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract(I get mine from Trader Joes)*
• 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided**
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Ground nutmeg to garnish
• Canned whipped topping, such as Reddi Whip

*Note: I wanted to add a little extra "spice" & thought this would be good. You can use plain vanilla extract.

**Note: You can use store bought or do as I did & make it combining 1 tablespoon each of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger & ground allspice. You can save any remaining spice mix for another recipe in an airtight container.

Preparation:

1.   Mix cream cheese until creamy. Add 3/4 can of pumpkin to cream cheese. Mix until thoroughly combined.  

 2. Add remaining pumpkin, pie spice, sugar, salt & bourbon vanilla extract. Mix until thoroughly combined & creamy.     

 3.  Gently stir 1/2 of Cool Whip into pumpkin cheese mixture until combined.

 4. Gently transfer pumpkin cheese mixture to graham cracker crust. Cover & chill for at least 5 - 6 hours! Serve with a dusting of nutmeg & a little dollop of the remaining cool whip or a squeeze of the canned whipped topping.  Here's a little tip: These crusts usually come sealed with a thin plastic cover, so remove paper liner, gently clean & reverse the plastic insert to use as your cover during the chill time. That way you don't have to worry about covering the cheesecake with aluminum foil or plastic wrap & having it stick/smash the top of your pie. It works great! 

Honestly, I think this was better the next day, after having more time to set and chill. See if you can detect that little bourbon vanilla extra when having that first bite. I did! Enjoy your Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake!

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Enjoy! WildWSS outta here!