Pumpkin Cheesecake

Since I've moved out to California, on the day after Thanksgiving, I've brought a cheesecake to work. It's a nice little treat on the second-craziest shopping day of the year (I think Christmas Eve takes the title of the craziest, what with last minute shopping and all.)

Originally, Dave and I were just doing our own little Thanksgiving dinner, since his parents moved up to Oregon. He wanted pumpkin cheesecake for dessert, and of course, I obliged. (I do so love requests.) We wound up going over to his cousin's house, where, again, a pumpkin cheesecake was mentioned.

I lucked out, though. I used my own springform pan for our cheesecake. But for the 'travelling' ones, I just make them in the disposable pie or cake pans. Of course, those are shallower and hold less filling. So with one batch, I had enough batter to make two. Thus, three cheesecakes were made in two days. :)

It's a bit different than the recipe I used last year, and I find this one to be much better. With graham cracker crusts, I always add spices to it; never measured, but it's usually cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Don't know what I did differently, but man, I'm in love with this crust.

And, as we started eating ours last night, I realized something... "Oh, poo, I didn't take a picture!" (I said something other than 'poo', but I do try to be ladylike on here lol)

Ingredients:
1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup butter, melted
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
15 oz. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
4 large eggs
½ cup evaporated milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. (325F if using a darker-colored pan.)

Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and granulated sugar in medium bowl. Press onto bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar until smooth; beat in pumpkin. Beat in eggs, evaporated milk, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into crust.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until edge is set but center still moves slightly. Cool in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan.