Pure Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pepita Brittle

I wasn’t excited about this cake.  The flavors just didn’t seem to go together.  It just shows you how wrong I can be.  The cake was sensational!  You see it boxed up here – on it’s way to a dinner party.  There were seven of us at dinner that night and we ate almost the entire cake, maybe one slice left.  There were no complaints about being too full, diets, or the cake being too rich.  We just cleaned our plates – everyone of us.

Rose garnished the cake with pecans around the perimeter – a nut I’ve yet to find in Poland, so my cheesecake went architectural with shards of pepita brittle.  The lacy scroll of caramel was just the right flavor compliment for the pumpkin cheesecake.  Without its usual accompaniment of spices, the pumpkin cream cheese mixture was very mild.  I used a box of Dutch ginger cookies with a light flavor to make the crust, and I doubled the crust recipe.  I love a cookie crust; it’s one of my favorite parts of a cheesecake.

While we don’t publish the recipes in Rose’s Heavenly Cake bake along, I can give you the recipe for the pepita brittle.  It can add a special element to other baked goods.  It seems very appropriate with carrot cake (or cupcakes) too.

Pepita Brittle

Ingredients

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 T. butter
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Directions

• In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, butter, and salt.
• Cook, stirring constantly, until temperature reaches 290 degrees.
• Stir in pepitas, cook stirring constantly, until temperature reaches 300.
• Remove from heat, stir in vanilla..
• Quickly spread mixture on large greased baking sheet.
• Cool, break into pieces, and store in airtight container.

Unlike peanut brittle, this is translucent because I’ve left out the 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda usually added  with the vanilla.  The baking soda makes the syrup fizz up, giving it an airy, almost honeycomb texture.  I like the look without, almost glass-like.

Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.