I am my Mother's Child

I was feeling ambitious last Friday night when I decided to cook dinner AND make a dessert, my first cheesecake in fact. My boyfriend and I both have work all day long throughout the week, so when Friday comes we normally just crash and chill out for the night. But not me, I felt ambitious.

It's a great feeling, when you know you can do something that you've never done before and you're just excited to try something new. So for dinner I made catfish fillets with roasted potatoes and asparagus, (I've never cooked catfish before).

And for dessert I made a Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Pecan Topping. And yes, it IS as rich as it sounds. Once you get past the sugar shock, the pumpkin and maple taste together are a delightful swirl in your mouth. The hardest part of the cheesecake was making the Graham Cracker crust- I don't know why I decided to use a mortal and pestol to crunch up every single graham cracker until it was tiny perfection, but it sure was fun! And also tedious.



Pumpking Cheesecake w/ Maple Pecan Topping


I never knew that someday I would love cooking/baking as much as my mother does. I am my mother's child, and I love it. Now if I could only be a gardener...

Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• Maple Pecan Glaze:
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1.                        Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2.                        Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

3.                        In large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add pumpkin, eggs, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

4.                        Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center appears nearly set when shaken. Cool 1 hour. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

5.                        To serve, spoon some Maple Pecan Sauce over cheesecake.

6.                        Maple Pecan Glaze: In medium-sized saucepan, combine whipping cream and pure maple syrup; bring to a boil. Boil rapidly 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly thickened; stir occasionally. Stir in chopped pecans. Cover and chill until served. Stir before serving.