Cooking Club: Pumpkin Cheesecake

My friend and former co-worker, Jessica, invited me last month to her house for her monthly cooking club. It's really quite fun and an easy concept. Typically they get together the last Wed. of the month. Each month has a theme, last month it was fall favorites, this month's theme was pumpkin. Everyone brings a related dish to share and then we get to feast on all sorts of yummy goodness and get new recipes. I made a pumpkin cheesecake. I'm not overly impressed because it very strongly reminded me of pumpkin pie, which I'm not overly crazy about to begin with. So with the added challenge and difficulty of making a cheesecake, this recipe will not be reappearing because I'd simply just make pumpkin pie instead. But here's the recipe. Some really enjoyed it, I had the leftovers disappear in a matter of minutes at work



Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crumbs
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. sugar
Filling:
3- 8oz.pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
Whipped Cream
Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8" springform pan. Bake for 5 min. at 350. Set aside.
Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer. add pumpkin eggs, and spices, beat till smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 min. or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

Oh, PS - I did not win this month's cooking club popular vote - Pumpking Whoopie Pies and Stuffed Pumpkin Shells were the big winners.