Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake, gluten-free from author @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl aka Avery:

Sparky is a sensitive soul and he often has irregular stomach issues. Poor guy. Poor me. He might simply be a nervous nellie and, therefore, his stomach clenches, but before I accept that fate, I’ve been trying to figure out if his diet is to blame. I took him off all his kibble and changed his diet to white rice and chicken with a little chicken broth. That worked pretty well. I added in white sweet potatoes. He has finally taken to those, though he won’t go near an orange sweet potato. Ick.

Okay, good. Next step. Add in some vitamins. Yep, all good. He can have his biscuit treats (Iams) and peanut butter and some bison chips. All good.

Then someone suggested I add a little pumpkin to his diet because it helps a sour stomach. 

Hmm.  Pumpkin is orange. If he wouldn’t take to orange sweet potatoes, would he take to pumpkins? No, absolutely not! I tried for a few days, but he turned up his nose and walked away from every bit of food.

So what was I supposed to do with that pumpkin? I wasn’t going to throw it out. It's not the fall and there are so many lovely fruit things I could make while the fruit is in season, but I had pumpkin. Luckily, I adore pumpkin. 

I considered making a pumpkin bundt cake and pumpkin muffins, but then as I surveyed my refrigerator, I realized I had a few more foods that needed to be used…ASAP.  Cream cheese, cottage cheese, and more. Plus I had some gluten-free cookies that had to be eaten, too.

Well, here’s what I came up with—I considered this a test run for a Thanksgiving dessert—and it’s a winner. FYI, I might consider melting the chocolate chips next time and mixing it with 1 cup of the batter and then swirling that chocolate into the cake. More experimentation ahead. Yum!

PS Sparky is doing much better, without the pumpkin. So, crossing my fingers…

CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Gluten-free

For crust:

6 gluten-free double chocolate chip, crumbled

2 tablespoons butter, melted

For filling:

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

12 oz. cottage cheese

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

4 eggs

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/3 cup chocolate chips, if desired

Line a spring-form pan with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 

Make the crust by combining the cookie crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl.  Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch spring-form pan.

Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then remove from oven and set aside until ready to fill.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla, pumpkin, eggs, cornstarch, and spices. Beat on HIGH until smooth and creamy.

Stir in chocolate chips (if desired).

Pour into the spring-form pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes. The top will be a bit darker by this point.

Turn off oven and let stand in oven for 1 hour to SET. Remove from oven and let stand on wire rack until room temperature. 

Top the spring-form pan lightly with foil. Put the cake, still in the spring-form pan, into the refrigerator.

When the cake is chilled (about 2 hours), run a knife around the outer rim of the cake, and then remove the spring-form pan sides. 

At this point, if you like, you can decorate with crème fraîche and more chocolate chips.

The cake is ready to serve. Refrigerate whatever you don't eat.

Savor the mystery!

*

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