INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

           CRUST:
Here's my favorite pumpkin cheesecake.  This recipe is from Marcel
Desaulniers. I first made it for Thanksgiving of 1993 (during the
first run of Death by Chocolate on The Learning Channel). This has
been my special Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert ever since.  At  the
time I first made it, I didn't have the book yet (I got it that
Christmas), and was reduced to dashing back and forth from the  kitchen
to the living room to follow the step by step instructions on  the show
that I had recorded. As you can guess, it was an evening of  sheer
insanity that lasted well past midnight. (And don't tell me  that I
would have saved a lot of time and stress if I had taken the  time to
sit down with the tape and write the recipe down - I had to  do it the
hard way.) This is complicated and time-intensive, but it  is really
and truly worth the work and I now do it in 3 parts -- bake  the
cookies one day, make the cheesecakes the next, and assemble on  the
3rd day.  Works much better this way. (I also substituted  chocolate
wafers for the cookies one one occasion, but the cookies  with the
recipe make a better crust and, in fact, I use them for a  lot of other
cheesecakes, too.)  Preheat oven to 325F.  Toast the pecan pieces on a
baking sheet in pre-heated oven for 6 to 8  minutes.  Remove form the
oven and allow to cool to room temperature.  Lower oven temperature to
300 F.  In a food processor fitted with  metal blade, chop the cookies
and the pecans until they are crumbs  (yield about 2 cups of crumbs),
about 20 to 30 seconds. Set aside.  Coat the bottom of a 9"x3"
springform pan with 1 tsp. melted butter.  Use hands to press 1 cup of
crumbs to a uniform level and thickness  on the butter bottom of pan.
Set aside.  To prepare the chocolate cheesecake, heat 1 inch of water
in the  bottom half of a double boiler over medium-high heat. Place the
semisweet chocolate and coffee in the top half of the double boiler.
Tightly cover the top with film wrap and allow to heat for 6 to 8
minutes. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.  Place 3/4 pound
softened cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 tsp.  salt in a bowl of
an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on low  for 1 minute and
on medium for 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl. Add 3  eggs, one at a time,
beating on high for 20 seconds and scraping down  the bowl after each
addition. Then beat mixture for 1 minute more on  high. Add 1 tsp.
vanilla and beat on medium for 15 seconds. Add the  melted chocolate
mixture and beat on medium for 30 seconds. Remove  bowl from the mixer.
Use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the batter  until it is smooth
and thoroughly combined.  Pour cheesecake mixture  into the prepared
springform pan, spreading evenly.  Keep at room  temperature while
preparing pumpkin cheesecake batter.  cont in part 2  Posted to
FOODWINE Digest 24 November 96  Date:    Mon, 25 Nov 1996 07:15:19
-0500  From:    Rosebud <janetm@ONLINE1.MAGNUS1.COM>

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 8355
Calories From Fat: 5509
Total Fat: 645.5g
Cholesterol: 2335.6mg
Sodium: 6047.2mg
Potassium: 2682.7mg
Carbohydrates: 626.6g
Fiber: 51.9g
Sugar: 217.3g
Protein: 127.9g