Happy holidays, lovelies! I’m on my way home and back to my babies from a fun girl’s trip to Utah. My hubby stayed behind in Texas with our 4 kiddos. I sure appreciate how much he supports me in all of my passions. I am SO excited for this Christmas holiday season now that we have slid into December! Bring on the boots & scarves, the festive music and baking. We have a favorite holiday dessert we always make a few times only around this time of year. I’ve been baking this special Cheesecake for 10 years and I’m really looking forward to it now that we’re able to enjoy our kitchen after completely renovating it earlier this year (see that post HERE.) Since so many of you on Instagram asked for me to share my White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Pecan Gingersnap Crust, I’ll include the recipe below and how you can make the perfect cheesecake! (Note: I don’t like most pumpkin treats, but I’m obsessed with this dessert. The pumpkin is very subtle ;-)).
Cooking and baking has become much easier and convenient since we made the switch to Samsung’s Family Hub Refrigerator and Flex Duo Oven Range. Cooking multiple dishes for a meal can be challenging when you have only 1 oven, especially when the green bean casserole and the roast needs to be cooked at different temperatures! You ladies who host holiday dinners understand exactly what I’m talking about. Our Flex Duo Range cooks multiple dishes at once with different temperatures and time settings. I had a ton of messages asking if the oven can fit an entire turkey. Yes, if we need the space it can become one large oven to fit our holiday roast and all the trimmings.
Can anyone relate to having the fridge cluttered with notes, kid’s artwork, and family photos? Our kitchen is the central hangout place and the kids love to see their artwork displayed. The Family Hub Refrigerator has a 21″ LCD screen that replaced the notes, artwork, and photos. We love it! My kiddos are always pulling a chair to the fridge whenever they’re feeling crafty and creative. As they finish their colored drawings on the screen, they can save the photos into their collections. They also love to pull up our family photos on the screen or turn on their favorite music.
I don’t know about you, but can you relate to being in the grocery store and not remembering what ingredients you already have in the fridge?! Yes? With the View Inside Camera, I can check the camera on my phone while I’m at the store shopping. It’s awesome! Other times when I’m feeling on top of my game, I’ll pull up recipes on the LCD screen and create a shopping list with all the ingredients sent to my phone. Now let’s get baking!
White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Pecan Gingersnap Crust
Crust
- 2 C gingersnap crumbs (approx. 30 small cookies)
- 3/4 C ground pecans
- 3 T brown sugar
- 6 T melted butter
Filling
- 3 8oz blocks of cream cheese
- 3/4 C canned pumpkin puree
- 1 C sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 t vanilla
- 1/4 t nutmeg
- 1 + 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1/8 t cloves
- 1 C white chocolate chips
Topping
- 1 C heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 C powdered sugar
- 1/2 t vanilla
- 1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans
- 2 T brown sugar
- 1/2 T corn syrup
- 4 T carmel sauce
1. Turn on the Holiday Music! Preheat oven to 350. While oven is preheating put a 9×13 pan half filled with water on the rack below where the cheesecake will bake. This is an easier way of doing a “water bath” and helps the cheesecake stay moist and not crack. If it does crack, it’s totally ok because it’s going to be covered with layers of amazing filling 😉 Since I need to use the full oven for this dessert, I remove the oven divider before preheating in my Samsung Flex Duo. If you have it, it’s nice to use convection baking for this cheesecake. That’s one of the things I love about this oven: when I’m needing to cook multiple dishes at different temps, I have the flexibility to do that at the same time. One temperature on the top and another on the bottom, and both have individual convection fans for even cooking!
2. Crust: Making a cheesecake is a lot easier with a spring-form pan, so definitely worth the small investment to buy one 9 inch pan. Butter the bottom and sides of the pan. Use a food processor to crush the gingersnaps, then the pecans. You want them pretty well ground up. Mix them in a bowl with the brown sugar and melted butter. Press this mixture into the spring-form pan. Spread evenly across the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides.
3. Filling and Cooking: With an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and white sugar until smooth. (Make sure the cream cheese is very soft! I try to remember to take it out of the fridge a couple hours before I make this, or will soften it in the microwave for a few seconds.) Add the 3 eggs one at a time. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. While the mixer is running, slowly pour in the melted white chocolate chips. Pour the mixture on top of the crust and bake for 55-65 minutes or until set. The top will be browned a bit, and the center should be a tad jiggly. It will finish cooking while cooling! At this point, turn off the oven and open the door to vent and leave it in for another 15-20 minutes. Then place on a cooling rack until completely cool. The idea is to cool it off as slowly as possible. Once it’s cool, cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to let it completely set.
4. Whip Cream Topping: While that delicious cheesecake is cooling, it’s time to make the topping. You can buy all of these ready-made at the store, but there’s nothing like homemade whip cream. About 15 minutes before I start, I put my metal mixing bowl and the heavy whipping cream in the freezer. It makes it go sooooo much faster! Mix 1 C heavy whipping cream with 1/3 C powdered sugar and 1/2 t vanilla on high until medium peaks form. So delish!
5. Caramelized Pecans. These are dangerous too. So so good. I always make more (double this recipe) than I need for the cheesecake because I know lots of little (and big) people are going to sneak them while cooling. In a medium skillet on med-high heat, place 2 T brown sugar, 1/2 T corn syrup, and 1/2 T butter. Stir until bubbly. Add 1/2 cup of roughly chopped pecans and stir for 5 minutes until golden brown. If it starts smoking at all, it’s burning! (Many past experiences). Transfer to wax paper sprayed with non-stick spray, break up and let cool.
6. Finish and ENJOY: Spread the whip cream on top, drizzle with caramel sauce, sprinkle with pecans, then drizzle more caramel. And now it’s time to feast!! We seriously love this dessert. It’s my personal favorite cheesecake. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you Samsung for partnering with me on this post! As always, all opinions and review are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that work with my family!
Where did you get the outfits? Super cute!!