Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake from Meredith Herndon dishes as eaten around the world Holiday Dessert bake-off Christmas Special recipe. Best Misc dessert 2010 recipe.

Ingredients 

Crust

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

½ cup sugar

10 Tbl melted butter

Mix the sugar & crumbs and then add melted butter. Press firmly

into 9 inch round spring-form cake pan. The

mixture should be ¼ inch thick.

Streussel Topping

1 cup pecans chopped fine in blender & ½ cup whole pecans

reserved for garnish

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup all purpose flour

½ cup sugar

½ cup cold butter cut in ¼ inch squares

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all Streusel ingredients into a crumb topping by mixing

together with your hands and then refrigerate

until the filling below is mixed together.

Cheesecake Filling

3 lbs cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Method 

1 1/2 cups Libby’s canned pumpkin pie filling In a mixer bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar, then add eggs and vanilla and mix well for 3 minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl 3 times. 

In another bowl place the pumpkin pie filling, and fold in 1/3 of the cream cheese/egg mixture from the first bowl, mix well then add this mixture to the remaining cream cheese/ egg mixture and mix well. 

Stir in sour cream. Fill the 9 inch pan ¾ of the way full with the Cheesecake filling mix. 

Sprinkle the Streusel topping on lightly and add the ½ cup of pecans reserved for garnish in a circle around the top of the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for ½ hour then lower temperature to 325 degrees for ½ hour more, if toothpick inserted in center comes out clean turn oven off and remove after 15 minutes more, ( note: if toothpick is sticky, bake for another 10 minutes, then turn off oven, and wait 15 minutes to remove it.) 

Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes then cool in refrigerator overnight. Serve and enjoy.