Cranberry Orange Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate Cookie Crust

I don’t bake very often, but I was asked to bring a dessert to a Thanksgiving gathering. I like pumpkin pie, and since it was Thanksgiving, a pumpkin cheesecake sounded really good. I got inspiration from the Cranberry Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust recipe at the For Two, Please website and the Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe by Ethan Howard, pastry chef at Cavallo Point, Sausalito that was published in the local newspaper. Well, the cheesecake turned out to be a hit!

The chocolate cookie crust uses chocolate cookies with a crème filling (the most famous brand in the USA being Oreo – but this is not an Oreo cookie recipe!). After separating the cookies from the crème filling, the filling is usually discarded (or eaten!). So I had the wild idea to use the filling in the crust to help bind the crushed cookie pieces together. Well, I tried it and it worked. Since the filling already has sugar in it, I didn’t add any sugar to the cookie crumbs. I did have to add some oil (or melted butter) since there wasn’t enough of the filling to bind all the crumbs together.

You need to make the cheesecake and the filling the night before you want to eat it, so plan ahead!

Enjoy!

Crust Ingredients

1 package (about 19 oz) Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Crème Filling

1 Tbs. Cinnamon powder

1 Tbs. Nutmeg powder

1-2 Tbs. Oil or Melted Butter (as needed)

Filling Ingredients

3 packages (24 oz) Cream Cheese at room temperature

1 can (15 oz) Pumpkin

¼ cup Sugar

1 Tbs. Cornstarch

2 tsp. Cinnamon powder

1 tsp. Nutmeg powder

1 tsp. Ginger powder

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Vanilla

4 large Eggs

Topping Ingredients

½ cup Sugar

3 Tbs. Water or Orange Liqueur

1 tsp. Cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 Tbs. of Orange Liqueur

1 package (12 oz) fresh Cranberries

Zest from an orange

Crust Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325⁰F.
2. You can optionally line the springform pan with aluminum foil. I found a product that has aluminum foil on one side and parchment paper on the other (parchment side towards the pan and aluminum foil side towards the cake). Regardless, you should lubricate the inside of your pan with oil to facilitate the cheesecake separating from the pan.
3. Separate the cookies from the crème filling. Put the cookies into a food processor and the filling into a microwave safe bowl.
4. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg to the food processor.
5. Pulse the food processor and break up the cookies into crumbs.
6. Microwave the crème filling for 1-2 minutes on high heat. The filling will become soft but will not liquefy. Be careful since the bowl and filling will be hot.
7. Stir and then add the softened filling into food processor. Pulse the filling into the cookie crumbs. You may have to add melted butter or oil to the food processor if the cookie crumb mixture looks too loose. You have enough binders when you just start to see the cookie crumbs clumping together.
8. Put the cookie crumb mixture into a 10-inch springform pan. Use a glass to compress the cookie crumb mixture into the pan. As you press the glass into the cookie crumbs, you can form the crust up the sides of the springform pan and make a crisp transition between the horizontal and vertical surfaces in the springform pan. You can also choose to not form a crust vertically and just make a horizontal base for the cheesecake.
9. Bake until the crust is set, about 8 minutes, and allow the crust to cool completely.

Filling Instructions

1. Reduce the oven temperature to 300⁰F.
2. Boil water for the water bath.
3. Put the cream cheese into the food processor and pulse until smooth.
4. Open the canned pumpkin and put the contents into the food processor. Pulse until incorporated.
5. Add the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger powder, salt, and vanilla to the food processor. Pulse until incorporated.
6. Turn on the food processer and add the eggs, one by one.
7. Turn off the food processor and pour the filling mixture into the crust, smoothing the top of the mixture.
8. Put the springform pan into a larger pan and put the larger pan into the oven.
9. Pour hot water into the larger pan before closing the oven door and baking the cheesecake from 50-60 minutes, until the center sets and the cheesecake still wiggles in the pan.
10. Carefully remove the springform pan from the water bath and allow to cool completely on a rack (about 4 hours), before covering and refrigerating overnight.

Topping Instructions

1. Mix the cornstarch and orange liqueur together and set aside.
2. Put the sugar and water (or orange liqueur) in a saucepan over low to low-medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Increase the heat to medium, put the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan, and bring to a simmer.
4. Add the cranberries to the saucepan. Cook until the cranberries begin to pop, stirring often (about 3 minutes).
5. Remove from heat and cool completely. Put the cranberries into a covered container and put into the refrigerator overnight.

Assembly Instructions

1. If you didn’t line the pan, take a knife and run it around the edges of the pan before releasing the springform pan sides.
2. Put the topping onto the cheesecake, add the orange zest, and chill for one hour before serving.