Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

This beautiful cheesecake, with a ginger-flavored crust, adds a delicious finish to all your holiday meals.

Ingredients:

• 2 8-oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. canned pumpkin
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. allspice

Crust:

• 1 ½ c. crushed ginger snap cookies
• 1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 c. butter, melted

Directions:

For the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium size bowl, mix together the crushed cookies, pecans and butter. Press this mixture onto the bottom and about 1 inch up the side of the 9-inch springform pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes and set aside to cool.

For the filling:
In a medium size bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1/2 c. of the sugar, and the vanilla until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until blended. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture. Add the other 1/4 cup of sugar, the pumpkin, the cinnamon, and the allspice to the remaining cream cheese mixture.

Spread the pumpkin batter over the crust. Drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the pumpkin filling. Using a knife, gently swirl the plain batter into the pumpkin batter to create a marbled effect. Bake for 55 minutes or until the filling is set. After removing the cheesecake from the oven run a knife around the edge. Allow the cheesecake to cool before removing the rim of the pan. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.