Pumpkin Cheesecake

I LOVE this recipe, it's a nice change from a traditional pumpkin pie. 

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For crust: 
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside. 
For filling:Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

**TIPS**

*Above are the exact directions for this recipe, however here are a few tips that I learned while making this. The first time I made this cheesecake, it cracked right down the middle of the cheesecake. Overcooking a cheesecake can result in large deep cracks, it is very common to have little cracks in your cheesecake. There are lots of different tips that can prevent cracking in cheesecake. These are some helpful tips that I found online, and my friend Maryam gave me some great advice on baking the perfect cheesecake!

#1 Add your eggs very last to your batter. Overbeating eggs are the ingredient that will hold the air. So beat everything else together well then add the eggs last and beat until combined, no more. If you beat the eggs to much, it can cause cracking issues.

#2 Don't over-cook your cake more then 1 hour. The first time I made this it didn't look done, it jiggled a little in the middle. I cooked it for 90 minutes, and the crust burnt and my cheesecake also had tons of cracks. So don't be afraid to take it out of the oven when it jiggles. The second time I made this I baked it for 50 minutes.
#3 Cooling the cheesecake. Basically cheesecake is very susceptible to quick changes in temperature. If the cake contracts too quickly when cooking, it will crack. There are a couple of different ways to cool your cake, A good way to do this is to leave the oven door open and let it sit for a good 30 minutes or more once it is done, with the oven off. Other methods include removing it from the oven and covering the top with a plate to have it gently cool, with the benefit of some moisture trapped by the surface of the cake, or just cooling it on top of the oven where it is still warm. The bottom line is to cool the cheesecake slowly before you stick it in the fridge.
#4 Finally, be sure the cheesecake will not stick to the sides of the pan as it cools by 1) being sure to butter the pan well, and 2) once the cheesecake is done baking, run a knife gently around the outside of the cheesecake to loosen it from the sides of the pan. This way, as the cheesecake cools and contracts it will not stick to the side of the pan and CRACK!
With all of this info, there is still the possibility that you will get a crack. It’s not the end of the world. Just start your first slice on the crack and add some topping. No one will ever know!