Indulge in this Smooth Autumn Cheesecake featuring Crunchy Maple Pecans

Silky, spiced and just sweet enough, this seasonal treat captures autumnal comfort. I skip tinned pumpkin – it lacks depth and flavor – so I’ve taken the extra step to roast your own pumpkin. Baking brings out its natural sweetness while evaporating excess moisture, producing a rich, tasty base which adds real depth. The maple pecan brittle provides the final flourish: golden, nutty and providing a textural contrast to offset the velvety texture.

Autumn Cheesecake with Crunchy Pecan Topping

Prepare about one cup of puree, dice a medium squash, peeled and seeded in sections, then roast, with a cover, at 390F cooked through but not colored. Process until smooth.

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 1 hr 45 min
Cool 1 hr
Chill at least 6 hours
Serves about 10 people

Base Ingredients

• 200g ginger nut biscuits
• rich butter, melted, and some for coating
• sea salt

Cheesecake Mixture

• full-fat cream cheese
• white sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• homemade puree (as described above)
• 2 tsp cornflour
• cinnamon spice
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• freshly grated nutmeg
• clove spice
• fresh eggs, not cold
• sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pecan Garnish

• maple sweetener
• fine sugar
• nut pieces, coarsely cut
• sea salt flakes
• whipping cream

Heat the oven to 365F then butter the base and sides using a cake tin. Pulse the cookies to fine crumbs, place in a medium bowl. Incorporate the melted butter and salt, stir coating the crumbs. Transfer to the buttered container, press down firmly, bake for 10 minutes, set aside to cool.

Turn down the setting to a lower temp. Meanwhile, put the cream cheese, sugar and orange zest into a mixer bowl, whip on low speed at a gentle pace until well blended. Mix in the pumpkin puree, cornflour and spices, and beat gently well mixed. Add the eggs individually, mixing thoroughly between each addition, next include the tangy cream and flavoring, mix until smooth.

Transfer the spiced cream on to the set base and smooth the top with a tool. Give it a gentle shake on a worktop to remove bubbles, then bake the cake in the middle of the oven until set until the edges are set with a jiggly middle. Turn off the oven, keep the oven slightly open allowing it to cool for 60 minutes. After cooling, chill for at least six hours (or for days), until firm.

While waiting, prepare the brittle (up to three days ahead). Set the oven to 410F and line a small oven tray with baking paper. Stir together the syrup and sweetener in a pot and heat slowly on low briefly. Mix the chopped pecans, take off the stove transfer to the sheet. Heat until golden, until caramelized, then remove and leave to cool. After cooling completely, break into chunks keeping in a sealed jar in the freezer.

Open the dessert from its tin and transfer to a platter. Whip the cream to soft peaks, then spoon on top of the cake leaving a 3-4cm border. Add the crunchy bits across the surface, with additional brittle for serving.