DONT WASTE YOUR PUMPKINS: NO BAKE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

So now that you have not let those pumpkin seeds go to waste by roasting them up good, what do you do with the flesh. It's simple! Bang them in the oven to roast so that the flesh is nice and soft, turn said flesh into a puree and then use it as the filling to this delicious no bake cheese cake. With its ginger nut base and pumpkin seed topping to create a touch of crunch, this super sweet dessert is flavoured with cinnamon, all spice and ginger to give it that autumnal/christmassy vibe that is perfect for this time of the year. 

So you have your pumpkin. Follow my guide in my roasted pumpkin seed recipe for the first stages on how to divide and remove the innards and seeds. At this point you should have 4 quarters of pumpkin which you just need to pop in an oven that's preheated to 160 degrees (140 fan) and roast for 45mins-1 hour depending on how good your oven is until the flesh is soft and you can skip a knife through it.

Leave the quarters to cool and then remove the flesh from the skin carefully with a sharp knife. Chop off any bits that might be burnt and then chop the remaining good soft flesh into smaller chunk so it can fit inside a food processor (you can use a hand blender and a bowl of you wish). Blitz the flesh until a smooth puree has formed (you may need to add a splash of water to get things going but don't add too much). Drain off any excess moisture and your puree is complete.

Or you can buy a can of pumpkin puree if you want but only if you don't have a pumpkin in your house. We are not supposed to be wasting them now are we!

You will have an abundance of puree now so any not used in this recipe you can add to smoothies or add to some stock and veggies to make a soup. If you don't want to use it straight away, make sure the puree is totally cool and then pop in freezer bags to freeze for up to one month.

The rest of the ingredients are kind of essential to allow the cheesecake the set. One thing you can change is the biscuit in your base. I love using ginger biscuits in a cheesecake bake as I think they just add so much more flavour than using plain digestives. The ginger flavor also compliments the cinnamon and all spice in the filling. You can use plain digestives if you want or why not try some bourbon biccies instead if your more of a chocoholic!

The other thing to change is the pumpkin seeds. I've used a handful of my cinnamon roasted pumpkin seeds scattered over the top of my cheesecake to decorate and the crunch they give really works a treat with the soft and creamy filling. If you don't like them or don't have any to hand you can decorate as you see fit or just leave your cheese cake naked! A dusting of ground cinnamon is an idea or if you're really fancy you could pipe some more whipped cream on the top. That's far too technical for me though I'll just stick with chucking a few seeds on.

Let get too it! Once you have your puree all ready you can have this cheesecake in your fridge in under an hour setting away ready to serve later in the evening!

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake 

250g Ginger Biscuits

60g Butter

125ml Double Cream

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

280g Cream Cheese

225g Pumpkin Puree

2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Pinch Of All Spice

Pinch Of Ground Ginger

Handfull Of Roasted Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds

1. Begin by blitzing the ginger biscuits into crumbs in a food processor. Whilst they blitz, melt the butter over a low heat and then once the biscuits are crumbed, pour the butter in with the crumbs and mix everything together until all the crumbs are coated in the butter.
2. Take a loose bottomed 25cm deep sided tart tin and push the crumbs into the base so they are compact and there are no gaps in the base. Pop the tin in the fridge for at least 30mins to firm whilst you prepare the filling.
3. For the filling, whip the double cream and vanilla togetheruntil stiff peaks form and then leave to one side. In another bowl, gently beat together the cream cheese, pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, all spice and ginger until combine. Gently tip in the whipped vanilla cream and fold it through the pumpkin mixture until combined.
4. Once the base has finished firming, remove the tin from the fridge and tip in the filling. Spread out the filling all over the base, level it out so it's even and then top in the fridge until set. This took me around 6 hours but you can leave overnight to be super sure.
5. Once you are ready to serve, sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and remove from the tin.

Whats great about this cheesecake is that not only is it a fabulous way to turn those leftover Halloween pumpkins into something tasty, it's so so easy to whip up and as no baking is involved you can make it well in advance and leave it in your fridge and not have to worry about it not being ready when it comes to serve. When you do serve it, be prepared to experience a ginger-tastic buttery biscuit base, a smooth and creamy filling packed with sweet spice flavors and crunchy little pumpkins seeds offering a pop of texture to keep things interesting. So don't throw those pumpkins away now Halloween is over, whip up this delicious dessert instead!