KAHLÚA and Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

My friend Teresa gave me a Pumpkin KAHLÚA Cheesecake recipe in 1994 and I’ve been making it the same way ever since. Until now. I couldn’t help but add chocolate to the recipe this time. Luckily it was just as delicious as I imagined because I prepared it for Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws; which by the way, was one of the most amazing Thanksgiving meals I’ve ever eaten. Thank you Lindsey and Jesse! So now we have KAHLÚA and Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Make the crust:

If you don’t have a food processor, you can make crumbs in a blender. I used to make crumbs by smashing cookies/crackers in a Ziplock bag but I’ve found that using my blender gives me finer crumbs which helps the crust stay together better.

A few months ago, I saw this blog post from Bakers Royale and I went nuts over the mini cheesecake pans that she used (Chicago Metallic). I used them for the first time this week and now I wonder if I’ll ever make a traditional 9″ cheesecake again.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Here’s to many more. Cheers!

Sweet wishes,

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KAHLÚA and Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Staci at Random Sweets
Indulge in the flavors of pumpkin, chocolate and coffee in this decadent cheesecake. Serve it to guests and it's all they'll talk about for the rest of the party.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 443 kcal

Equipment

  • 9-inch springform pan

Ingredients
  

Crust

  • ¾ cup gingersnap cookie crumbs
  • ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
  • ¼ cup powdered confectioners sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake

  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate
  • 16 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 15 oz pure pumpkin , NOT pumpkin pie mix
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup KAHLÚA liqueur , or your favorite coffee liqueur
  • whipped topping , optional

Instructions
 

Crust

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
  • In a bowl, combine gingersnap and graham cracker crumbs with powdered sugar and butter.
  • Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 5 minutes.

Cheesecake

  • Melt chocolate on low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. You want the chocolate to cool before you add it to the cheesecake mixture.
  • Grease sides of springform pan.
  • In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat until light.
  • Add eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly after each addition, being careful not to overbeat.
  • Transfer 1 cup of cheesecake mixture to a separate small bowl. Into this same small bowl, stir in the melted chocolate. Set aside.
  • To the remaining cheesecake mixture with the mixer on low speed, add pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and KAHLÚA. 
  • Pour half of the pumpkin mixture into prepared crust.
  • Pour the chocolate mixture over the pumpkin layer. Then pour on the remaining pumpkin mixture. If you want to make a marble effect, use a table knife to gently cut through layers using an uplifting figure-8 motion and then swirl.
  • Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off the oven. Without opening the oven door, let the cheesecake sit in the turned-off oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool completely before chilling in the refrigerator. (The cheesecake, not you.)

Notes

The chocolate garnishes are simple to make. Melt a small amount of semisweet chocolate in a sealed Ziplock bag on very low heat in the microwave. (The small snack-size bags work really well.) Snip off a tiny corner of the bag and make your designs on a piece of wax paper. Let cool completely and then place in the whipped cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 443kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 6gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 218mgPotassium: 262mgFiber: 3gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 6226IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 2mg
Keyword cheesecake, KAHLÚA, pumpkin and chocolate

All text and images © Staci Mergenthal • Random Sweets

Tried this recipe?Mention @RandomSweets and tag #OurSweetMidwestLife

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10 Comments

  1. YES!! I have been looking for this recipe that I found and then Firefox crashed and I could not recall where I had found it 🙂

    You must do a cookbook 🙂

    Thanks for posting and I am now signed up, and getting email, so will never misplace again.

    1. Hi Darleen! I’ve spent weeks looking for an online recipe that I couldn’t remember where I saw it. I am so glad you found me back–and am even more thrilled that you signed up for my email.

      Along with this cheesecake, I made an Amaretto White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake and a Toffee Bits cheesecake. Those posts will be up soon.

      Thanks! Staci

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