The leaves have turned, it’s gotten pretty chilly and not to mention we had some snow flurries over the weekend. It can only mean one thing; Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
While some only remember to be thankful around the winter Holidays, I’ve been keeping up with counting my blessings year-round. And this year, I have so much to be thankful for. In Arabic, we say Hamdellah [الحمد لله] which means Thank God, My list may be a bit long, but some of the major things I’m thankful for are:
- My Family, both immediate and extended – that means my Tayta, aunts, uncles, cousins and cousin’s kids. I don’t think I have any cousin’s kids’ kids old enough to read yet.
- My health. Fortunately, I’m young and should be running a few miles a day – we’ll deal with that post-holiday madness.
- My close friends, namely, the Taco Tuesday Crew (TTC)+1, and other good friends in the U.S. and overseas, who laugh, cry, sing, dance, rant, give advice, take advice and put up with my Arab Idol and Mohammed Assaf obsession; my snapchats, photos; long, 7am text and Whatsapp messages, and ridiculous instagram pictures.
- The success of my blog. Measuring Cups, Optional is very dear to my heart and it, along with me, has done some growing this year. I’m always surprised by how many followers I have who read and try out my recipes. Keep it up! And send me pictures!
- My job. I cannot be thankful enough for my day job. I love the opportunities I have to make a difference through communications and media relations. I manage a handful of employees and interns and still manage to keep calm and get things done. Added bonus, I get to travel to some pretty cool places.
Thanksgiving isn’t complete without pie. Pumpkin and Pecan, to be exact. So what better way to enjoy the goodness of both than to combine the two for a Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake.
I can’t take credit for coming up with this brilliant idea. The credit goes to The Cheesecake Factory, who rolled out with their limited edition fall cheesecakes back in October. I splurged, after my salad, on a slice of Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake heaven and told my mom I was going to try to recreate it myself. It isn’t perfect, but it’s amazing.
There are three parts to this recipe, so bear with me.
Adapted from Here
Ingredients
- 3 cups Granulated Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 cup Water
- 2 cups Pecan Halves
- 1 Graham Cracker Crust 10- inch Springform Pan.
- 3 Large Eggs
- 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Dark Corn Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 ½ lbs Light Cream Cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 Egg Yolks, lightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 can (1 lb) Mashed Pumpkin
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients, except the pecans.
- Heat on medium low and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Drop the pecans in the syrupy mixture and remove with a skimmer
- Place on wax paper to cool.
- Set aside.
- Preheat oven 350 F
- In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, melted butter, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla. Mix well.
- Pour into your Springform pan.
- Cover with the glazed pecans.
- Bake for 20 minutes and remove from the oven.
- Preheat oven 425 F
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and yolks.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
- Beat in the whipping cream and vanilla, then add the mashed pumpkin and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the mixture over the pecan layer and bake for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 275 F and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for at least 5 hours before serving.
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