Dulce De Leches Cheesecake

For some reason, gossip never seems to go out of style no matter how old you are. You could be 40 years old and still stuck in a inferno of twisted stories. Sure, they may start off innocent. One person telling another person that they saw some hot golfer guy that lives down the street from them helping Crazy Old Lady Tooters with her groceries. Then the person you told says something about it to someone else, then that someone else says it to someone, and suddenly it turns into:

"Did you hear about what's going on with Crazy Old Lady Tooters that lives down the street?! I heard she's having an affair with the hot golfer guy that's married to that one chick that works at Kmart... I even heard that he got her pregnant! I know she's like 5038 years old but oh, my, GOD!"

Then someone decides it would be a good idea to actually ask the people in question what's going on instead of assuming something. Nine out of ten times they hear something completely different than what their peers said. What was thought to be an affair actually turns into Crazy Old Lady Tooters needing help putting away her groceries because she was too weak to put them up in her cabinets, and hot golfer guy was just being a good ol' gentlemen. No affair. No pregnancy. No bomb conspiracies. No wife who works at kmart being cheated on.

Rumors. They can get sticky pretty fast.


Unfortunately, no matter where you go in life, rumors will eventually find their way to you. I'm currently stuck in one that has been blown so much out of logic that at this point all I can do is laugh that anyone could even come up with stuff. It really is ridiculous. I like a good story now and then, but life isn't a Jerry Springer Show. When it comes to gossiping, I try to keep my mouth shut. I've always lived by the philosophy that whatever people tell me, I won't go blabbing to someone else unless I want to know the truth. And in that case, why not just ask that person straight up? This is one of my favorite bible verses concerning this:

“A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” Proverbs 11:13

I try to live by this verse when it concerns gossip. Afterall, no one needs to know eachothers private lives.

Now, if you're going to spread rumors about me... At least have it to do something with my baking. Good rumors. Like, "hey, I heard Alex bakes a mean dulce de leches cheesecake"... that, I can live with. Totally. Absolutely. Go right ahead and say stuff about me if you're gonna be saying that.

While you're at it, mention that my dulce de leches has a spiced graham cracker and almond crust. And that it's got a sour-cream dulce de leches swirl on top. Tell them it's absolutely splendid, not too sweet not too bitter... A beautiful medium.

And tell them that I will totally make one for them, too.

Dulce De Leches Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12 crackers)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted and still warm (not scorching hot) to the touch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cups almonds

Cheesecake:
3 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (can replace with vanilla extract)
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup homemade or store bought dulce de leches (from a 14 oz. can)

Topping:
2 cups full-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I added more sugar to this cause I like the topping more sweet, but add more to your own preference)
1/2 cup or whatever remains of the dulce de leches
1/4 cup slivered almonds (to decorate)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 320 degrees. Spray a 9in springform pan with non-stick baking spray.

2. To make the crust, take all of the crust ingredients and pulse together in a food processor or blender until fully combined. Press into the springform pan, moving up the sides about an inch or two. Put the crust into the oven for about 10 minutes or until slightly brownish. Take out and let cool while you make the cheesecake filling.

3. Using an electric mixer or handmixer, on a low speed combine the cream cheese with the sugar, extracts, and flour until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time, making sure to mix each egg in completely before adding another. Be careful not to overmix. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cheesecake and set to the side.

4. Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Pour the 1/2 cup of dulce de leches into the reserved 1/2 cup of the cheesecake filling. Whisk together, then drop spoonfuls of the cheesecake dulce de leches filling into the regular cheesecake filling. Swirl together with a butter knife.

5. Bake cheesecake for about an hour or until the cheesecake wiggles only slightly in the middle and the outside of the cheesecake is set.

6. Run a knife around the side of the cheesecake to loosen. Let cool at room temperature for another hour, then pop into the fridge for 5 hours or overnight.

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

This cheesecake is magical.

In one bite, it can do so many different things.

It will change your life.
It will change your perspective of everything.
It will make you question reality.
How can something taste so good?



It will impress your drama-queen manager who is always PMSing. Even if he's a guy.
It will make your boyfriend stop playing Fable 3 and Halo: Reach for more than just a potty break.
It will cause odd and excessive groaning/moaning noises from everyone that eats it.
It will make anyone who hates you, love you. Forever.
It pretty much brings all the boys to the yard. And not for milkshakes.

This cheesecake...is just far too much.

Smooth. Creamy. Sweet enough to balance out the brownies. Decadent enough to satisfy with one serving, but addicting enough to go back for more sometime around midnight when no one can see you lick it off the fork. Oh, and a chocolate wafer crust to top it all off.

Yeah. You can't really get better than this without enticing a heart attack on yourself.

The best part about this cheesecake is that it's easy. Sure, it includes some patience. But it's so very, very worth it. If you've got a big event coming up, or maybe just want to do something nice for someone... this is the way to go. Plus, it looks so impressive when you cut into it. The brownie chunks make such a beautiful pattern, it will make anyone "ooh" and "aah" all over again when they take a slice. Please, make this cheesecake. You won't regret it.

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake
(recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

Brownie Ingredients:

1 family-size box of brownie mix, baked as directed
or
1 9x13 pan of your favorite brownie recipe

Crust:
(measurements to double crust in parenthesis)

1 1/2 cups or 5 ounces (3 cups or 10 ounces to double) finely ground cookies such as chocolate wafers. Or Chocolate Teddy Grahams.
5 tablespoons (10 tablespoons to double) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (2/3 cup to double) sugar
1/8 (1/4 teaspoon to double) teaspoon salt

Cheesecake

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 cups brownie cubes

Chocolate Ganache:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken up, or 1/2 cup chocolate morsels
2 ounces butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. Bake brownies as directed on the box or bake your own recipe. Once brownies are cool, store in the refrigerator or freezer before you cut them for cleaner cuts.

2. Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

3. Make crumb crust as directed above for 24-centimeter cheesecake. Preheat oven to 350°F.

4. Make filling and bake cake: Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy and add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla and sugar, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

5. Fold brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

When completely cool, top glaze.

6. To make the ganache, grind the chocolate into powder in the food processor, scald the butter and cream in a saucepan (or in a Pyrex cup in the microwave). With the machine running, pour the hot cream/butter mixture slowly through the feed tube onto the chocolate. Blend until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down sides once or twice.

7. Add the extract and sugar and process until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

I have come to the conclusion that I have a problem.

Don't worry! It's not the kind of problem that includes the use of anti-itching cream in odd places or anything like that.

It's more of a personal thing. You know. Like a, "what the heck was God thinking when he made me?" problem.

No offense to you, God. We're still homies.

I guess the problem, more or less, is my attitude in the kitchen. It's like... as soon as I walk into the kitchen, I turn into the Hispanic/American hybrid female version of Ramsey. And instead of having a spatula in my grasp, I have a hand-mixer on high, ready to kick someones butt if they even look at what I'm doing. Isn't that horrible?'

You'd think having such a passionate love for baking and cooking would give me a sense of patience. In reality, I am probably the least patient person in the world. And if someone gets in my way when I'm cooking, or says something like, "are you sure you wanna use that much cinnamon?" while I'm in the middle of making snickerdoodles, then I cannot account for the words that may pass my lips.

Example: This pumpkin cheesecake. It was not easy to make. There were many trials. And I was not alone in making it.

I've made pumpkin cheesecake before. I've made a lot of varieties. When I saw the recipe for Rose Levy's pumpkin cheesecake, I couldn't resist. But at the same time, I saw another recipe that called for ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon in the batter; spices which were lacking in Rose's recipe. I decided to just combine the two and see where it got me. Not only that, but I decided to ask my boyfriend to join me, as he is a huge pumpkin cheesecake fan and I thought it would be fun...

Until he tried to take the cream cheese out of its package with a whisk because he didn't want to get his fingers messy.

It all just went downhill from there.

Now that I think about it, working on something like cheesecake with someone who has never baked something from scratch before may not have been a good idea. And although I was thankful for the time spent together, I won't deny the fact that at one point I wanted to just throw the whole batter out into the sink and call it a day. Gratefully that didn't happen, because regardless of the whole batter being funky issue, the cheesecake still came out perfectly firm, uncracked, and delicious. Although I wasn't a huge fan of it (I'm not a pumpkin cheescake person), the spices did meld together perfectly and I think it made all the difference in the cheesecake. That, and an awesome crust that I pretty much almost ate by the fistful by itself.

But really. This whole impatience with other people in the kitchen thing... am I the only one? I would honestly rather wait 20 minutes for lunch then work with someone else in a small kitchen so we can make our own lunches at the same time. It just doesn't work for me.

Either way, this cheesecake did come out awesome. I didn't have a food processor so the recipe itself didn't work out for me exactly the way I wanted it to. If you do have a food processor, great! Maybe it'll work out for you. But I didn't. So, if you only have a hand mixer, I'm going to include both ways to make this cheesecake with and without a food processor. And if you do happen to make this with someone else less baking savvy, and you have the same kitchen temper I do... let them make the crust.

Trust me.

It might save their life.

(P.S: I do love my boyfriend for helping me out with it, and he is still alive. Just wanted to make that clear before someone calls the police.)

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake w/Gingersnap Pecan Crust
(Tweaked from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pure Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe)

Crust:
4 1/2 oz gingersnaps (about 17 2-in. cookies)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
(NOTE: I doubled the crust for mine and it worked out fine)

Cheesecake:
16oz cream cheese, softened
15oz pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix, preferably Libby's)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream, chilled (NOTE: I had to substitute 2 cups full fat evaporated milk for this since there was no heavy cream left at the store, feel free to do the same if you're watching your budget)

For Garnish:
Whipped Cream
Crumbled Gingersnaps
Caramelized Pecans


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x 2 1/2 -inch or higher springform pan.

To make the crust:
2. In a food processor, process the cookies with the pecans, sugar, salt and cinnamon (if using) until the cookies become fine crumbs, about 20 seconds. Add the melted butter and pulse about 10 times, just until incorporated.

3. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, press the mixture into the base of the prepared pan and partway up the sides. Lay plastic wrap over the crumbs to keep them from sticking to your fingers. Be sure to press the bottom thoroughly so that the crumbs are evenly distributed. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double layer of extra-wide heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent water leaking in from the water bath .

To make the filling:
4. In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the pumpkin puree and sugar. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a sputtering simmer, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and cook stirring constantly, until the mixture has darkened somewhat, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

FOOD PROCESSOR WAY:

5. Scrape the pumpkin mixture into a large food processor and process for 1 minute with the feed tube open (so steam can escape), scraping down the sides. With the motor running add the chilled cream. Add the softened cream cheese and process for 30 seconds or until smoothly incorporated, scraping down the sides two or three times. Add the eggs and yolks and process for about 5 seconds, just until incorporated.

HAND MIXER WAY:

5. Scrape pumpkin mixture into a large mixing bowl with cream cheese. Blend together until completely incorporated and smooth. Add the eggs and yolks until just incorporated. Add chilled heavy cream until smooth, remembering to scrape down the sides.

To bake the cheesecake:
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Set the pan in a larger pan (a 12×2-inch cake pan or a roasting pan and surround it with 1 inch of very hot water. Bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes. Turn off the oven without opening the door and let the cheesecake cool for 1 hour.

7. Transfer the cake to a rack (the center will still be jiggly) and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

8. Unmold cheesecake onto serving platter. Garnish as desired.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Hi.

How's life? Got all your Christmas shopping done yet? Still doing 1:00 AM visits to Walmart? Tired of the sound of cash registers? Not done planning your Holiday menu? Stocking up on Pillsbury ready-to-bake cookies and cakes just in case? Realizing it's only 4 days left until Christmas? 10 seconds away from saying 'screw it!' and just letting the kids unwrap their Christmas gifts by just taking them out of the bags they originally come in? In debt up to your eyeballs? Trying to figure out why your pants dont fit anymore? Trying to figure out why nothing fits anymore?

Don't worry. That's okay. Me, too.

Thankfully, there are things in life that are very forgiving when it comes to the stress of holiday seasons...

Like Red Velvet Cheesecake.



I'm not gonna lie.
It calls to me.

It's like the Marilyn Monroe of cheesecakes.
It doesn't give a flying fudge nugget what you think of it. It's sexy, and it knows it's sexy, and it'll seduce you with just one look.

Assuming, of course, that your cheesecake has eyes... Mine doesn't... I pretty much prefer it that way; but to each their own.

I really do love this cheesecake... Even though I messed up on the crust (1/2 cup melted butter instead of 1/4 cup... Woops!), AND my cheesecake cracked at the top... Everything was good in the world as soon as I threw a dollop of cream cheese frosting on top. And hey... no one's gonna mind the extra chocolate crust... ;)

If you're looking for a sure-fire way to make everyone ooh and aaah at the Christmas table, this is a great go-to recipe to have on hand. Everything comes together nicely and the cheesecake itself is perfectly tasty. Much like red velvet cake, except with a creamier texture and a chocolate crust. Still, very, very good.



Just make sure you don't do what I did and find out you don't have enough red food coloring at the last minute. Because then you'll find yourself in an array of hysterics throwing spices out of your cabinet looking for an extra bottle of food coloring while shouting "MY CHEESECAKE IS PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK. PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK." at the top of your lungs.

It isn't pretty.



Red Velvet Cheesecake
(Adapted from Culinary Concoctions from Peabody)

INGREDIENTS:

CRUST
1 ½ cups oreo cookie crumbs
¼ cup butter, melted
1 TBSP granulated sugar

FILLING
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
½ cup whole buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
2 (1 oz) bottles red food coloring

TOPPING
1 4oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Stir together oreo crumbs, melted butter and 1 TBSP sugar; press mixture onto bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Beat together cream cheese and sugar at medium low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs, unsweetened cocoa, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar and food coloring. Mix on low speed just until fully combined.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake at 325F for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 300F, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm.

5. Run knife along outer edge of cheese. Turn oven off and let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes.

6. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 m minutes.
Cover and chill for 8 hours.

7. To make the topping, beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth.
Remove cheesecake from refrigerator and spread topping evenly over top of cheesecake.
Remove sides of springform. Garnish if desired.

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

I am starting to slowly realize that when it comes to holidays, sometimes it's best to just stick with what people like, instead of going all out to change every single thing. You know what I mean?

Sure, it's cool to show off with some fancy shmancy roasted garlic mashed 'tatoes... It's awesome to come up with some magnificent cake with perfectly iced fall leaves on top for decoration. It's fun to sit there and come up with ways to make your cornbread stuffing that much better than last years stovetop...

It's understandable for a foodie to wanna go all out to impress guests and family.

But sometimes. Sometimes you just needa little somethin' that's traditional.

And i'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful for the instant mashed potatoes, the freeze and bake biscuits, and the simple stick-in-the-oven-and-fuggeddaboutit turkey (that was my awesome donnie brasco impression). I'm thankful for it all. Because regardless of whether it's homemade or store-bought -- it still brings a family together. And that's what actually matters.

Truth.

I'm also thankful for this Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake.

And i'm pretty sure everyone else at the dinner table last night was, too.

(P.S: Did I mention that it's lower in fat & calories than the original recipe? Second slice, please.)

"Snappy" Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

(Adapted from Taste of Home, August/September 2008)

CRUST

1 cup cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup ground cornflakes (grind them in a food processor until they get crumby)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter, melted

FILLING

2 8oz packages of neaufchatel cheese (or 1/2 reduced fat cream cheese), SOFTENED

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place a greased 9 inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy duty foil (about 18in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon cracker crumbs, ground cornflakes and pecans. Stir in butter. Press to the bottom and 1inch up the sides of your 9 inch springform pan. Bake this at 325F for 9 minutes or until set (should be a darkish slightly golden brown). Take out and cool on a wire wrack.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat SOFTENED cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs; beat on low speed until just combined (DO NOT OVERBEAT).

4. Place 1 cup of the cheesecake filling in a seperate bowl. To that seperate bowl, add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Stir together to combine. Remove 1/2 cup of the pumpkin filling and set aside.

5. Pour remaining pumpkin filling into the crust. Top with plain cheesecake filling. Now go to the 1/2 cup of pumpkin filling you set aside, and with a large tablespoon, just scoop and drop spoonfuls ontop of the cheesecake. Take a smooth knife (butter knives work best) and just run it through the top of the cheesecake to get a marbled effect. Have fun with it!

6. Place the springform pan into a larger baking pan (like a roasting pan or a large 13x9 baking pan; the kind you'd bake brownies in) . Add some hot water inside the baking pan (NOT ontop of the cheesecake) until the water comes up 1inch. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top is just set and looks slightly dull (to check if it's set, tap the sides of the pan. If the center jiggles slightly, it's ready to come out).

7. Cool on a wire wrack for 7 minutes. Run a clean, smooth knife around the edges of the cheesecake pan to loosen the crust from the pan. Cool 1 hour longer.

8. Refrigerate cheesecake overnight. Then remove the sides of the pan and reward your patience with one big slice o' cheesecake. ;]

Pumpkin. Cheesecake. Pie. Hold my hand.

Let me ask you a question, dear reader.

What do you do when you have half an opened can of pumpkin puree in your fridge and a smidgen of left over cream cheese from mini-cheesecakes past accompanying it?

This.

This is what you do.

You go crazy and in a frenzy of inspiration and seasonal delusions you make this.

Pumpkin. Cheesecake. Pie.

This isn't just your Mama's pumpkin pie, let me tell you. This baby is chock full of a ton of ingredients that will have your tummy going "Uhm, yes" and your dietician going, "Uhm, share." Yeah, it's that good.

Oh, and by the way -- did I mention it has a sugared almond/ginger crust? No? Well. It does. And don't even think you can get out of this easy by using some store-bought graham cracker crust. Oh no. This pie crust and filling were meant to be, and it's so incredibly easy to

make... Best part about it? Totally easy to make Gluten-Free. Bonus points? I think so.

Really though, this pie is pretty awesome. I got the original recipe from allrecipes double layer pumpkin pie. Admittedly, I've never had pumpkin pie. Ever. But i'm sure i'd like it either way. This was really good though. Perfect balance of sweetness in contrast to the natural flavor of the pumpkin. And the almondy/ginger crust just brought out the best in the cinnamon and nutmeg in the pumpkin itself. You'd think for the amount of sugar this pie has packed in, it would be too sweet. But it's not at all.

So if you happen to have some left-over pumpkin puree sitting in your fridge -- totally make this. If you don't have any cream cheese... go get some. If you don't have any almonds... Well. Okay. If you absolutelyhavetouseapremadecrust... It may be a little time consuming but it's worth it people, really.

Did I mention it's a pumpkin cheesecake pie?

I can't get over this.

Now, I have one more question for you, my lovely reader:

Want a slice?

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie w/Almond Ginger Crust

(Original recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

Pie Crust Ingredients:

roughly 1 cup of finely chopped almonds

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

5 tablespoons salted butter, divided

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup whole wheat flour (optional, can sub almond meal for gluten-free crust)

Pie Filling Ingredients:

2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. First, we'll make the pie crust. It's incredibly easy. Take a medium skillet and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in it over low-medium heat. When butter is melted, add almonds, ginger, and sugar. Toss together to coat and let simmer over medium heat, tossing around occasionally to make sure the almonds and ginger are toasted evenly.

2. As soon as they start getting nicely toasted (watch for burning) and fragrant, let them simmer for a minute or two longer before taking them off the skillet and letting them cool on a kitchen towel or a few paper towels piled on top of each other.

3. While almonds are cooling down, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a microwave safe container. Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.

4. Wait until both the almond/ginger mixture and melted butter is cooled completely before proceeding. This is because we are making a crust, not almond butter, and if the almonds are still warm, they will not give a crusty texture.

5. With a food processor or hand blender, grind the almond/ginger mixture until it gets a mealy texture. Then, dump into a separate bowl. Add the melted butter, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour (or almond meal). Mix together until you have a crumbly crust-like texture. Don't worry if you have left overs -- I did. And if your crust is a little warm, that's okay. Just as long as it still has a mealy feel to it.

6. Press your crust into a 9 in. pie pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool on counter while you make your pie filling.

7. To make your pie filling, lower your oven to 325F. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time, being careful not to over mix. Reserve 1 cup of this batter and pour evenly into your COOLED pie crust. Set aside.

8. Add your pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.

9. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until center is almost set (it should be a little bit jiggly in the middle). Allow to cool, and then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Garnish with a cookie leaf or whip cream if desired.