Shelly's Recipe

PUMPKIN-SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Category: Cheesecake

Crust
2 cups graham-cracker crumbs or vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup butter

Filling
3 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brandy
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 (16 oz) can solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin-pie mix)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice and salt
1 (8 oz) container sour cream

Preheat oven to 325. In 9 inch springform pan, with fork, stir cracker crumbs and melted butter until moistened. With hand, press mixture onto bottom of pan. Bake crust 10 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth; slowly beat in sugar. With mixer at low speed, beat in brandy, vanilla extract, and eggs just until blended, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula.

In medium bowl, mix pumpkin, cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Stir half of cream-cheese mixture into pumpkin mixture until blended. Stir sour cream into remaining cream-cheese mixture.

Reserve 1/2 cup pumpkin mixture. Pour remaining pumpkin mixture onto crust. Carefully pour cream-cheese mixture on top of pumpkin layer. Spoon dollops of reserved pumpkin mixture onto cream-cheese layer. With knife, cut and twist through cream-cheese layer to obtain swirl effect.

Bake cheesecake 1 hour. Turn off oven; let cheesecake remain in oven 1 hour longer. Remove cheesecake from oven. With small knife, loosen cheesecake from side of pan to help prevent cracking during cooling. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate cheesecake at least 6 hours or overnight until well chilled. Remove side of pan to serve.