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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Toasted Marshmallows

Rich and decadent but not heavy, this pumpkin laced cheesecake is the perfect finish to an autumn feast. Topping it with toasted marshmallows creates drama but also a gooey smokey contrast to the creamy sweet cake. The crust can easily be gluten free if you use gluten free cookies or pretzels.
Course Dessert
Cuisine North American
Keyword honeynut squash, marshmallow, pumpkin
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
cooling 1 hour
Servings 12

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 cups (336 grams) crushed gingersnaps, graham crackers, honey pretzels, or your favourite gluten free cookie crumb option
  • 6 tbsp (85 grams) butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Filling

  • 3 packages (750 grams/24 oz) regular Cream cheese , AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 extra large eggs, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
  • 1 cup pumpkin purée, firmly packed, or roasted squash purée, or even canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

Marshmallows

  • 3 packets powdered gelatin
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • icing sugar

Instructions

Crust

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

  2. Combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter and brown sugar or maple syrup in a bowl. Stir together till completely blended and holds together. Press the crumb mixture into a 9 inch springform pan with high sides. Start with the edges first to ensure that you have enough to go up at least 1 1/inches. Go slowly, and then pull the excess from the bottom edge and pull it towards the middle. Fill in the bottom.

  3. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 10 minutes till fragrant and golden. Take out, cool and set aside while the filling is being prepared.

Filling

  1. Reduce the heat to 275F.
  2. Place one of the packages of cream cheese (8 oz) along with 1/2 cup of sugar, and the cornstarch into the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low until creamy, about 3 minutes. Then beat in the remaining cheese.
  3. Increase the speed and add the remaining sugar. Then add the vanilla. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides as needed.
  4. Combine the pumpkin purée with the cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves till blended. Add this to the cheese mixture and beat through. Add the heavy cream. Mix only till completely blended, but no further. Do NOT over-mix the batter.
  5. Gently spoon the filling into the cooled down crust. Give the pan a couple of gentle taps to release any air bubbles.
  6. Bake in the centre of the oven till the outer 2 inches of the edges are set, and the centre is still slightly jiggly, anywhere between 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven. Leave the cake in the oven to cool down as the oven cools.
  7. Remove the cake from the oven to a wire cooling rack. After 15 minutes gently run a knife along the outer edge of the cake to loosen it. Keep the pan intact and once cooled place in the fridge to chill (overnight is best) Then you can remove the sides before serving.

Marshmallows

  1. Dissolve the 3 packets in 1/2 cup of water in the bowl of your stand mixer.
  2. In a saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water. Cook until it reads 245°F on a candy thermometer. Turn the mixer on low-speed to start breaking up the gelatin, and carefully pour in the hot sugar syrup along the side of the bowl, being careful that it doesn't hit the whip attachment.
  3. Once you have all the syrup in the bowl, add the salt, turn the speed up to high and let it mix for about 8-10 minutes.
  4. The marshmallow will be light, fluffy and almost cooled down. Add the vanilla now. It shouldn't be too cool or else it will not be malleable and spreadable.
  5. Meanwhile, lightly grease a baking dish with butter. Pour the marshmallow into the pan and smooth the top. Allow it to sit for 6 hours or overnight.
  6. Generously dust a parchment lined baking sheet with powdered sugar.
  7. Gently pry the cooled marshmallow away from the sides. You should be able to easily pick it up and transfer it to sugar dusted baking sheet.
  8. To cut, dust the marshmallow with powdered sugar. Carefully butter the blade of a knife and cut into desired cubes. For this cake, keep the cubes at around 1 1/4 inch in size. Dust with more sugar to prevent them from sticking to each other.
  9. The marshmallows will hold their shape and can be stored in an airtight container for a week. These can be made in advance of the cheesecake.

To serve

  1. Use a torch to burnish all the edges of the desired amount of marshmallows you want to serve with the cake. For instance, if you are feeding 8 people initially, toast up 8 marshmallows. As you eat the rest of the cake later on you can always toast up some more marshmallows. You can mound them for the wow factor once they have cooled a little, or else you can place one warmed marshmallow onto each slice for serving.
  2. See the blog post for more details.

Recipe Notes

Here is the link for how to roast and prepare the squash or pumpkin if you are doing it from scratch: Brown Butter Honeynut Squash Cake