Office Party

Tonight we had our second annual Office premiere party. Since we were taking it easy with dinner by ordering pizza, I decided to do something a little more complicated for dessert. I wanted special, delicious and festive. Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake fit the bill perfectly. I found the recipe online and will share it here. For serving ease I made individual servings in cupcake wrappers. The bake time turned out to be less than half. So good! I could eat this everyday.

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup sugar, plus
1 tablespoon sugar
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 T sugar in a medium bowl.
Stir well enough to coat all of the crumbs with the butter, but not so much as to turn the mixture into paste.
Keep it crumbly.
Put foil partway up the outside part of an 8-inch springform pan.
Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the springform pan.
You don't want the crust to form all of the way up the back of each slice of cheesecake.
Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set aside until you are ready to fill it.
In a large mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, 1 C sugar, and vanilla.
Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.
Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and continue beating until smooth and creamy.
Pour the filling into the pan.
Bake for 60-70 minutes.
The top will turn a bit darker at this point.
Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool.
When the cheesecake has come to room temperature, put it into the refrigerator.
When the cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides and cut the cake into 8 equal pieces.
Serve with a generous portion of whipped cream on top.