Homemade Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Pecan Praline Topping

Be sure that ALL of your ingredients are ROOM TEMPERATURE before you begin. It will make your cheesecake nice and smooth, if an item is cold, like eggs, you will have giant cracks across your pie, still edible, but certainly not as pretty!

Ingredients

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
2 freshly baked and mashed pumpkins (then use 1 and 3/4 Cup of mash) OR
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin ( FRESH IS SO MUCH BETTER THOUGH!)
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan, or if you don't have a springform pan, use a CAKE pan, you CANNOT use a regular pie dish, it will not fit, it will overflow horribly! You need a dish with at leas 2.5 inches tall on sides. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined. Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

For my topping I used a Pecan Praline topping..WONDERFUL and simple recipe as follows

Ingredients

2 cups whole pecans
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine pecans, brown sugar, and heavy cream. Spread into a square baking pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until coating is dry, and slightly crystallized, stirring once. Remove from oven to cool and stir once more. If not serving immediately, store in an airtight container.