The last Thursday in November is the most important holiday in the American calendar: Thanksgiving. On the busiest travel weekend of the year in the US, everyone rushes home to sit down with family and enjoy a huge, gut-busting meal, usually followed by sprawling on the sofa in a tryptophan-trance watching a football game.
Not huge football fans, my brother and I used to play chess on Thanksgiving with our Uncle Clifford. Thanksgiving was always at Uncle Cliff and Aunt Karen’s place – she had a double kitchen (the result of knocking two apartments together) that was seemingly custom-made for the task. The feast was obligingly epic in proportions and included the traditional turkey with all the trimmings, followed by pumpkin pie. I think I am the only one of us who never took a liking to pumpkin pie.
After I grew up and moved away from home, I often hosted what I called my ‘Thanksgiving for Orphans’, meaning a dinner for people whose families, like mine, were too far away for them to join. If anyone wanted pumpkin pie at these dinners, they were told to bring it themselves, because I’ve never made one and have no intention of doing so. However, I may have mellowed with age, and I now feel somewhat obligated to offer up something that at least resembles pumpkin pie. So I came up my own version: no-bake pumpkin cheesecake.
I make it with fresh pumpkin, delicately-spiced and not overly-sweetened, and a sharp and citrusy ginger biscuit crust. And it’s no-bake, so it’s dead easy to put together. Which is great, because it leaves me more time to brush up on my chess. Now that my son is a fanatic, I once again have serious competition on my hands!
Chess players may note that he set up the board the wrong way round but hey, he's only 5.
| No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake |
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From:
Serves: 8
What You Need
- Crust:
- 1 250g packet ginger biscuits, blended to yield 2 cups fine crumbs
- Zest of 1/2 small orange (or tangerine)
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
- Filling:
- 300g light cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, steamed and drained pumpkin (or other sweet squash), blended to yield 1 cup (240 ml) purée
- 1/4 cup (60g) brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- Pinch allspice
- Pinch ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) double cream
- Topping:
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) double cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1/2 small orange/tangerine
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
What You Do
- Make the crust by mixing the biscuit crumbs with the zest and butter and pressing into a 10-inch (25cm) pie tin. Chill while you make the filling.
- Mix the cream cheese with the pumpkin, sugar and spices until well-blended.
- In a separate bowl, whip the cream with the vanilla into firm peaks, then gently fold into the pumpkin mixture.
- Spoon filling into chilled crust, spread evenly and chill overnight.
- Just prior to serving, whip the cream and vanilla for your topping and pipe it onto the cheesecake to make a decorative pattern. Sprinkle with lemon and/or orange zest and serve.
Notes for Next Time
1. I have been asked if this tastes much like pumpkin pie and the answer is yes. It tastes enough like the ‘real’ thing to satisfy traditionalists, but is different enough that I’m happy eating it. It’s essentially a fresher, milder and zingier version of what you might be used to.
2. If you are lucky enough to live in a country where ‘Speculaas’ biscuits are available, use those for the crust instead – amazing. If you can’t find them, or ginger biscuits, blend up some gingerbread men, or else use graham crackers and add a pinch of powdered ginger and nutmeg.
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13 Responses to No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
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I do like pumpkin pie, but I also love pumpkin cheesecake. Even better, when it requires no baking!
Carolyn took the words out of my mouth! This looks so yummy!
delicious looking cheesecake looks wonderful
This is the perfect holiday substitute for someone that doesn’t like the classic pumpkin pie! I think I have everything I need to make it too
Thanks for sharing!
Such a nice twist on a classic pumpkin pie! This looks delicious. I love that you guys place chess on Thanksgiving…I haven’t played in years; maybe I can get my family on board for a few games this year!
I too used to host an orphan thanksgiving for expats. I’m also not a pumpkin pie fan but this looks fantastic! It’sone I definitely would make and eat.
I love that this is no bake! Can anything be better than easy? I love your recipe!
I love the photo of your 5 year old, cut him some slack, he’s 5 he’s entitled to make mistakes, at least he is starting to learn to play chess. My nephews are 6 and 8 and play with the pieces like plastic soldier toys…Well, thanks for the recipe! Happy Thankssgiving!
Thanks Anna, and don’t worry – my son plays with them like toys too. In fact, just after I took this photo, he got the two kings into an epic superhero vs. evil hero battle. They were flying all over the room. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well!
I was thinking of pre-gaming Thanksgiving with an open door celebration so that I could make anything I wanted to next year. Anyone can come and go as they please sort of thing. Your Thanksgiving for Orphans type thing (but really, I just want to cook!). I love the sound of this no bake cheesecake. I am not a big fan of pumpkin pie myself so this would be a great way to sneak a little in and make everyone happy.
I love no-bake and I adore pumpkin so this would be perfect for me, especially since my baking skill are minimal
Hope you are having a great week…
I’m not a huge pumpkin fan, but it sounds like the cheesecake part and gingersnap crust make for a delicious alternative to pie! Theresa
Ruby- I love your write up on Thxgiving. Hilarious. And I am soo with you on the pumpkin pie. I love a no-bake pumpkin pie or pumpkin cupcakes sooo much better than a traditional pumpkin pie. Happy Holidays to you.
Great idea, I love pumpkins in any dessert, and this looks yummy, can’t wait to try it