Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

 Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

 I tried this as my last Christmas cheesecake (the year before that was eggnog cheesecake, yum) and I fell in love with the pumpkin cheesecake.  I already could eat pumpkin pie every month of the year, and now if I wasn't so lazy I know I would be gorging on this beauty more often. 

Ingredients:

For filling:

• 3 (250 g) packages PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 dash ground cloves

For crust:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• about 1 teaspoon or so of pumpkin pie spice
• a dash or two of cinnamon and nutmeg if you fancy

Directions

1. Combine cookie crumbs,spice and butter. Press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling, or bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack before filling. 
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. 
4. Remove 1 cup plain batter; place in small bowl. 
5. Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin and spices into remaining batter. Spoon pumpkin batter into crust; top with spoonfuls of reserved plain batter. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect. 
6. Bake 45 minutes or until centre is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cut into 12 slices. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Original recipe found at: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/philadelphia-pumpkin-swirl-cheesecake/Detail.aspx

Cheesecake tips can be found at this link (there are a lot and it does help to read them)
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Perfect-Cheesecakes/Detail.aspx 
water baths and pre-whipping already room temperature cheese can save your cheesecake :)