Recipe: Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake with Ginger Snap-Pecan Crust

PUMPKIN SWIRL CHEESECAKE

FOR THE CRUST:
25 ginger snaps, finely crushed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
FOR THE FILLING:
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar, divided use
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash ground cloves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix ginger snap crumbs, pecans and butter; press firmly onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended.

Remove 1 1/2 cups of the batter; place in small bowl. Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the pumpkin and spices into remaining batter.

Spoon half of the pumpkin batter into crust; top with spoonfuls of half of the reserved plain batter. Repeat layers. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.

Bake 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight before serving.

To server, cut into 16 slices. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Makes 16 servings, one slice each
Source: Kraft