A Custom Pumpkin Cheesecake

My parents called last week and announced they were coming up to visit for the weekend. I didn't have enough time or energy to cook an entire meal, so we opted to go out to eat one night and order pizza the next night. I did decide that I needed to bake something special for dessert though. This time of year, pumpkin cheesecake immediately comes to mind. I don't really like cheesecake that much because it's so heavy. But pumpkin cheesecake is different, lighter, because of the added pumpkin. We love the pumpkin cheesecake at Olive Garden, but haven't made it there yet this fall to enjoy it. Yep, pumpkin cheesecake was the dessert for the weekend.

I did a Google search and finally decided on Paula Deen's recipe. I liked the cream cheese to pumpkin ratio. However, I wanted a gingersnap crust because I had a leftover bag of gingersnaps in my pantry to use up. One thing I've learned about cooking is that nothing is set in stone. You can improvise, combine and make up recipes to suit your tastes and ingredients available. So I found a recipe for a gingersnap crust from Martha Stewart that looked perfect. Paula's filling and Martha's crust turned out to be a great combination. My cheesecake did crack on the top, but I don't really care. Isn't that what whipped cream is for?

me (right) with my sister and niece

I won't bother typing up the recipes again, so here's the links for the recipes I used:
Paula Deen's Pumpkin Cheesecake
Gingersnap Crust from Martha Stewart's website

Everyone loved the cheesecake (even my 2-year-old niece, who we just learned is kind of a cream cheese fanatic) and we had a great time together as a family!