Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake with Bourbon-Caramel Sauce

I would like to apologize upfront for this recipe. You will dislike me and it while you’re making it. Quite a bit. But then you’ll thank me, and keep coming back for more every fall when the pumpkins come calling. I might be so bold as to say that this will become your Official Thanksgiving Dessert… naturally because it’s so unbelievably good, but really because you’ll be thankful when the work is done and the indulgence can begin. (I’m serious- it took me hours to do all of the steps from the crust to the praline to the filling to the sauce. And yet you know I wouldn’t share this with you and insist that you bake it unless it was worth it.)

Important note for those on any kind of watching-your-girlish-figure regime: this is a rich, decadent, sinful dessert. Butter, cream cheese, whipping cream, sour cream (three kinds of cream!) light and brown sugar… the list goes on. Yet you knew that coming into this recipe, you knew that any dessert with Cheesecake in its title meant that you’d be setting yourself up for a delicious indulgence. Thanksgiving comes but once a year. You deserve it. Thank me later.

PRALINE:

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

CRUST:

1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup pecans, toasted and finely ground

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, melted (just over 1/3 cup)

FILLING:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

BOURBON-CARAMEL SAUCE:

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup whipping cream

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 tablespoons bourbon
1. PRALINE: Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheet with foil. In a heavy medium saucepan, stir sugar and butter over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, without stirring. Stir in pecans. Spread pecans evenly on prepared baking sheet. Bake until praline bubbles, about 8 – 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool praline completely. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container for up to two days.
2. CRUST: In a medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar, pecans (ground in a food processor after toasting lightly) and cinnamon. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Press evenly into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
3. FILLING: Beat cream cheese until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and spices until smooth, and then lightly beat into cream cheese. Add flour, bourbon (if using) and vanilla, and beat lightly until combined. Pour into crust and bake for 1 hour (oven still at 350°, or 300° if using a dark non-stick type of pan). Cake should be set on the outsides and slightly jiggly in the center. When cake is ready, turn oven off and leave oven door ajar for 15 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow to sit for 15 minutes; run knife along edge of pan to loosen cake, and let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set.
4. SAUCE: In a deep medium saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar, whipping cream, butter, corn syrup, and salt to boil (whisking until sugar dissolves). Boil for 1 minute without stirring, then remove from heat. Stir in bourbon, then allow to cool while stirring occasionally. To serve, cut cheesecake into pieces and pour sauce over each piece. Sprinkle praline overtop sauce on each piece.
Tips:
- Ingredients should be at room temperature so that the batter is smooth and requires less beating time. (They say that an over-beaten batter causes cheesecakes to crack, like mine do almost always. Sigh.)
- Place a pan of water on the bottom rack of your oven while baking, so the cake won’t dry out.
- Try not to open the door of the oven while it’s baking- at least early on. Cheesecakes have sensitive souls.
- Want to skip a few steps? Skip the pecans in the crust (since it takes time to toast & grind the little buggers up); just increase the graham crumbs to 1 1/2 cups. ALSO- skip the praline and just add toasted chopped pecans to the sauce when you add the bourbon at the end. (You won’t know what you’re missing by not having the praline, but if you have the time… I’d do it.)
- Want more decadent desserts that will blow your diet out of the water but are still totally worth it? Try the Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing, or the Decadent Deep-Dish Pecan Pie. Dear God.
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November 10th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | 2 Comments | Tags: Cakes

2 Responses and Counting...

Carol Peterson 11.10.2012

Any chance you might know about chocolate bourbon praline cheesecake. I’ve lost my recipe and it is LOVED by those who have been served. Thanks very much.
More Sweets Please

Hi Carol- I am so very tempted to make the kind of cake you have suggested. Holy cow! I haven’t seen a recipe like this before, but I searched a bot online and like the looks of this recipe: http://www.wafb.com/story/6865812/chef-folses-double-chocolatebourbon-creole-cream-cheese-cheesecake. I have NO IDEA if it’s good or not, but worth a try? You’d have to make the praline on your own and then sprinkle overtop (or stir in). Let me know how it goes!