Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

This pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate crust combines the very best of each: the melting texture of the cheesecake; the bright color and health benefits of the pumpkin; and the contrast of color, texture, and flavor of the cocoa base. And, if you wish, this cheesecake can be flavored (you won’t believe it!) with COFFEE, and this will perfectly hide the pumpkin taste if someone in your family doesn’t like it.

Few people in my family and among my friends like pumpkin, even though everyone knows about its benefits. So every autumn, when my parents treat us to their pumpkin harvest (and they usually have a very rich one), I start racking my brain for something to cook and how to mask the taste of this bright healthy autumn vegetable.

Often, the experiments fail, and my family turns up their noses at me, feeling the “pumpkin spirit.” But sometimes my creative search is crowned with success. Like, for example, Moist Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread or incredibly tender Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Cake, or Pumpkin Sponge Cake without eggs, dairy and white sugar, or this pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate crust, the recipe of which I want to share with you in this post.

How to make a pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate crust?

Chocolate crust

The base will be shortcrust pastry with a small amount of almond flour. This is what makes the finished base tender, a little crumbly, but still holding its shape. You can also make it without almond flour, but be ready for a tougher cake base.

As always, use high-quality and aromatic cocoa, for example this Organic Cocoa Powder, so the shortbread dough will turn out to be rich in color and with a bright chocolate flavor.

Powdered sugar in shortbread dough can be replaced with sugar, but the cake is more tender with powdered sugar.

Pumpkin cheesecake filling

I take the base of classic cheesecake as a filling, but add a couple of flavor and color accents to it.

All ingredients for the filling should be at room temperature, so the mass will be more homogeneous (homogeneous). This does not apply to the chocolate base, which requires cold products.

If you want, you can replace the cream cheese with cottage cheese, but the cheesecake will not be as tender and will have a slight sourness. I’m sure this pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate crust will still be delicious, and if you add orange zest to it, it will definitely be perfect.

How to flavor the cheesecake with coffee?

I advise you to use high quality whole coffee beans to get a pleasant, delicate flavor. You can use ground coffee, but then the cheesecake will contain coffee bean crumbs, and even straining it completely won’t save you from this.

If you like instant coffee, you can use it instead of grain coffee using the same technology, except that reducing the amount of coffee to 1 tsp should be enough. Below in the recipe, I will mention the moment and method of adding coffee to the cheesecake.

How to make homemade pumpkin puree?

1. Peel the pumpkin from the skin.
2. Cut it in half lengthwise.
3. Peel out the seeds (life hack: it’s convenient to do this with an ice cream scoop).
4. Cut the pumpkin into pieces.
5. And then there are 3 options: bake in the oven, boil in a little water, or cook in the microwave for a few minutes. The result is the same, it’s all about convenience. I’m used to boiling.
6. Next, mash the ready-made soft pumpkin with a potato masher or punch it with a blender (it will be more homogeneous).

How long to cook a pumpkin for puree?

It depends on pumpkin, you just need to wait until it is soft and easy to mash.

How to store pumpkin puree?

Store in a tight container in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for several months.

How to freeze pumpkin puree?

Yes, pumpkin puree can be frozen, which is very convenient. I make it into cubes in an ice cube tray, then put them in a freezer bag and use it when needed, it’s so convenient to weigh out the right amount.

So, finally, let’s make the Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

The amount of ingredients is calculated for a mold with a diameter of 14 cm and a height of 6 cm. The weight of the finished cheesecake is about 850 g.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Crust

Butter
All-purpose flour
Cocoa powder
Almond flour
A pinch of salt
Powdered sugar
Egg yolk
Cold water

In the cup of a food processor beat cold butter, flour, cocoa powder, almond flour, powdered sugar and a pinch of salt into fine crumbs.

Add cold egg yolk, beat. Add 1 tbsp of cold water, beating after each one, until the dough starts to come together into a lump (it took me 2 tbsp of water). Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Grease the baking dish a little with butter and dust with flour. I baked in a baking ring, the bottom of which was covered with parchment.

Roll out the dough into a circle 0.4-0.5 cm thick, put it into the mold, pressing it against all walls, corners and curves, if you have them. Make punctures with a fork all over the bottom surface and put in the refrigerator while the oven is heating up.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Bake the base for 20 minutes at 180°C.

Remove the base from the oven and, while it cools slightly, prepare the filling and lower the oven temperature to 120°C.

Ingredients for the Pumpkin Cheesecake filling

Cream, 10-15% fat
Cream cheese
Sugar
Pumpkin puree
Egg

At this stage, if you want, flavor the cream with coffee: bring the cream with coffee beans (2 tsp) to a boil and cool to room temperature. If you don’t want to flavor the cream, just skip this step; you don’t need to heat the cream itself.

Mash the cream cheese with sugar until smooth with a whisk or a mixer.

Add pumpkin puree, stir. Then stir in the egg.

Add the cream to the cheese and pumpkin mixture. If you have flavored the cream with coffee, strain it before adding it to the main mixture.

Mix thoroughly. If there are lumps of cream cheese in the mass, you can carefully punch it with a blender, making sure that no excess air gets into the mixture, as we don’t need it in the cheesecake.

Pour the cheese and pumpkin mass into the prepared base, which has cooled slightly.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour at 120ºC. The edges of the finished cheesecake hold, and the middle trembles well when vibrating.

After an hour, turn off the oven and leave the pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate crust in it until it cools completely. Then put the cheesecake into the refrigerator for 8 hours.

Enjoy your meal!

What do you think about this pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate crust recipe? Did you like it? I am happy to share my experience with you and waiting for your feedback!