Pumpkin Cheese Cake

This is pretty much the Betty Crocker recipe, but I've changed it up just a little bit and it uses fresh pumpkins!

• Ready In: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 24
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• 2  cups  pie pumpkin
• 2  cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1⁄2 cups brown sugar
• 1⁄2 cup  low-fat butter
• 16  ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (one third less fat)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1⁄2 cup low-fat sour cream

• Ground spices

• 2  teaspoons cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ginger
• 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon clove
• 3  eggs

• sugar topping

• 1  cup sugar
• 3  tablespoons water

Directions

1. Cut pumpkin in half. Scoop out seeds and strings. Place cut sides down on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 30-45 min or until skin pierces easily with a fork.
2. When the pumpkin is cool, scoop out flesh and mash. Put the pumpkin in the refrigerator while you make the rest of the cheesecake.
3. For the cheesecake.
4. Combine gram cracker crumbs and ½ cup packed brown sugar. Add melted butter and mix well. Press crumb mixture into a 9 inch spring form pan. Refrigerate for 20 minute.
5. Mix together cream cheese and sour cream. Add spices, 1 cup brown sugar and eggs. Mix together well. Add pumpkin.
6. Pour mixture into crumb pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1-1/2 hours or until center shows cooked threw with the tooth pick test.
7. Place in refrigerator for 3 hours.
8. Topping:
9. In a saucepan combine sugar and water. Constantly stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring sugar water to a boil. Watch closely because it will burn fast. Cook until you get a light golden color. Remove from heat. Let set 1-2 min until starts to thicken a bit. Stir with fork. Using fork, drizzle over cake quickly before the sugar hardens.
10. Cake will keep for 48 hours.
11. If you would like to make mini cakes instead of one big one:
12. Press the ginger crumb mixture into 30 muffin tins. Place the tins in the refrigerator while you make the cake batter.
13. Scoop about 1/2 cup of cake mixture into each tin.
14. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 min or until center is cooked through.