Tea on Tuesday: Pumpkin-Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake



Vegetarian Times Issue: November 1, 2006

Oh how yummy! I love pumpkin anything this time of year! Wouldn't this be great with a cup of tea?


PUMPKIN-CHOCOLATE SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Ingredients:

Chocolate Crust
1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 8-oz. pkg. Neufchâtel cheese, softened
2 cups light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 15-oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 Tbs. ground ginger
1 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. To make Chocolate Crust: Coat 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in medium bowl. Press into prepared pan, and bake 10 minutes.

2. Melt chocolate in bowl in microwave on medium power, stirring every 30 seconds to heat evenly. Set aside. Blend cottage cheese in food processor 3 minutes, until smooth. Add Neufchâtel cheese, brown sugar, eggs and flour, and process until smooth. Add pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, and process 1 minute, or until smooth.

3. Whisk 1 cup cream cheese batter into melted chocolate. Pour remaining batter into crust. Spoon dollops of chocolate mixture onto batter, and swirl with knife.

4. Bake cheesecake 1 1/2 hours, or until top is firm and cake is beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely on wire rack, then chill well before unmolding and serving.

Serves 24.

Nutritional Information per serving:
Calories 218
Protein 6g
Total fat 9g
Carbs 29g
Cholesterol 47mg
Sodium 177mg
Fiber 1g

~~yummy recipe and  photo from: Vegetarian Times, 2006~~