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.
½cupKAHLÚA 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.