blue artichoke

Cheesecakes are sly creatures. They make me very nervous. Why do they jiggle so when they are thoroughly cooked? I always panic and leave the cheesecake in the oven until it no longer jiggles, terrified that I'll have a soggy, runny mess if I don't. And I never have a runny mess, because I always overcook cheesecake. So, when I made a pumpkin cheesecake this weekend for a dinner party thrown by Gentleman Caller's colleague, I decided to go against my better judgment and cook the cheesecake for exactly the time prescribed by the recipe. If it didn't work, well, at least it would be spectacularly embarrassing to show up with a partially cooked dessert. But it did work! For once, I finally turned out a cheesecake that wasn't dry, thick and cracked, but moist and cheesecakey.

The cheesecake was officially a Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake, but I omitted the bourbon as the hosts have children and I didn't know how they felt about feeding alcohol to their kids. Turns out, they don't mind a bit. I think the bourbon would have rounded out the flavor nicely. There was a sour cream topping to the cheesecake, which was OK, but I think I'll try a new topping next time, or just forget it. The crust, though, was excellent. Walnut and graham crackers, brown sugar and butter. Yum.