Layered Toffee Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie

They (whoever "they" are) say pie's going to be the new cupcake, I hear. Personally I don't think I would take it that far, but to each their own. As I promised in the last post, here's the other pie I made for Thanksgiving. I'm not into pumpkin pie..at all, really. But layered with the toffee cheesecake and a graham cracker crust turned it into something I could eat (not only eat, but love) without completely submerging it in whipped cream. It also looks pretty fancy too, you would never think it was so easy. Be sure to add this one to your pie list this season.

Toffee Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie
Our Best Bites

I swear I had a picture of the inside.. the bottom layer is the cheesecake with the pumpkin pie on top, they're distinctive layers.

Ingredients:
2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (just short of 2 sleeves)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 eggs, at room temperature
1 bag toffee bits
1 15-oz can pumpkin
3/4 cup whipping cream
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning
1/8 teaspoons salt
Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream for topping

Instructions:
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9 or 10″ springform pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix crumbs and butter. Press in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
In large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in 2 of the eggs. Stir in 1 cup of the toffee bits. Spread over crust.
In a new bowl, Mix pumpkin, whipping cream, 2/3 cup sugar, the cinnamon, pumpkin pie seasoning, salt and remaining 3 eggs just until blended. Slowly and carefully spoon over cheesecake layer.
Bake for 2 hours or until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes. Run spatula around edge of pan. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Run spatula around edge of pan; remove side of pan. Pipe whipped topping or whipped cream around edges of cheesecake; sprinkle with remaining toffee bits.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was so fun, and relaxed. As opposed to the hectic Christmas season we've just entered. For dessert, my brother in law thought it would be fun if everyone brought a pie. There were a lot of people..and even more pies! I'm not a huge pie person but they were all so good. I brought 2 (the other i'll post next time). I'm a chocolate person so to ensure there would be some chocolate I decided on this chocolate cream pie i've been waiting to make. I loved it and it must have went over pretty well since it all got eaten. Thanksgiving might be over, but Christmas is coming up and if you're in need of a pie, this one won't make you sorry.

I think I forgot to mention before, but the Index is FINALLY updated. Wow it was overdue. But every recipe is now in it and hopefully it'll never again get that far behind.

PIE!

Chocolate Cream Pie

Bumbleberry Cakes

(Ok, so not the prettiest picture, but it was the only one I got that shows the inside)

For crust:

1 1/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

For filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large egg yolks

3 cups whole milk

5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), melted

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

For topping:

3/4 cup chilled heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Make crust:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.Stir together crumbs, butter, and sugar and press on bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate (1-quart capacity). Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes, and cool on a rack.

Make filling: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a 3-quart heavy saucepan until combined well, then add milk in a stream, whisking. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking, 1 minute (filling will be thick). Force filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then whisk in chocolates, butter, and vanilla. Cover surface of filling with a buttered round of wax paper and cool completely, about 2 hours.

Spoon filling into crust and chill pie, loosely covered, at least 6 hours.

Make topping: Just before serving, beat cream with sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks, then spoon on top of pie.