Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake

Pumpkin cheesecake is just pumpkin pie all grown up. In this recipe, plain and pumpkin batters are swirled together for a showy presentation.

Recipe Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookies, crushed into fine crumbs
1/2 cup finely ground pecans
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar - divided use
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. For Crust: Combine crushed gingersnaps, pecans and butter; press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes; set aside.
3. For Filling: Combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reserve 1 cup batter. To the remainder, add remaining sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well.
4. Alternately layer pumpkin mixture and cream cheese batter over the crust, making sure that the top has a little of the plain batter on it. Swirl a knife through the batter, dragging one color into the other, to create a marble effect.
5. Bake for 55 minutes. Loosen the cake from the rim of the pan; cool before removing from the pan; then wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Makes 12 servings.