When I saw this pumpkin cheesecake on Family on Keto Instagram page, I knew I have to try to make it. I bought a can of pumpkin puree, to make sure it’s going to be perfect for pie. And I don’t know if it’s the problem of ingredients – my pumpkin puree was rather dark orange than yellow and mixed with basic cream cheese, has made pretty liquid filling. Original one looks pretty fluffy and stiff. Or I did something different than Ines. So if you decide to make this cake keep in mind. Ines used her own puree made with baked pumpkin, so maybe that’s the difference – the type of pumpkin and how puree was made. Although my tinned pure was pretty thick, so maybe it’s cream cheese…

According to original recipe, after at least an hour in the fridge, cake should be ready to be served. But in my case it was still pretty liquid, as you can see on the photos (it stayed about 2 hours in the fridge). Only after 24 hours it was set enough to stay stiff.

Anyway, even though my cake wasn’t perfectly set, it was still really tasty. Delicate, smooth filling, gentle in taste, nutty pie crust with strong cinnamon flavour. Also very satisfying, so one piece is enough to fulfil your craving for sweet. I leave the amount of xylitol to you to decide, add just enough to make the dough sweet enough for you. I do not like very sweet sweets, so the amounts I add may not be suitable for most people.

If you decide to make your own pumpkin puree, remember to choose proper type of pumpkin or squash. Not each one will be perfect for cake. There’s couple different types of pumpkin, I can recommended two I’ve used, and they worked well for cakes, buns, muffins and also soups. First is butternut squash – its shape resembles a huge pear. The butternut squash flesh has no fibers and the taste is nutty and sweetish. Therefore, this type of pumpkin is perfect for everything: as a base for soups, casseroles, as a basic ingredient for bread, muffins, rolls, cookies, cakes and other desserts. You can also make cocktails from it! Second one is Hokkaido pumpkin, which is round and dark orange with golden flesh – I also used it in the past for cakes and it was great. In the shops you can also find kabocha squash (also known as Japanese pumpkin) – this type of pumpkin is easy to recognize – the skin is always green. Although dark green on the outside, the inside of the pumpkin is orange. It’s the sweetest kind of pumpkin. The flesh is fiber free. Perfect as a base for desserts – you can prepare pumpkin cheesecake, muffins, cookies or other sweet delicacy from it.

Either type of pumpkin you choose or you decide to use tinned puree, don’t be discouraged if something goes not as perfect as you wish. After all, it is the taste and the joy of preparing and eating that are most important. If you feel like something went wrong, you can always crumble pie crust in to small bowls, layer it with pumpkin filling, and decorate with big splash of whipped cream and bunch of raspberries.

keto pumpkin cheesecake

NOTE: my measuring cup is regular 250ml glass

INGREDIENTS for pie crust for baking tray – 20cm/about 7-8inch:

• 1½ cup ground nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 1 tbsp cacao powder
• xylitol or other sugar replacement to taste
• 6 tbsp softened butter (I used clarified)
• pinch of natural rock salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

INGREDIENTS for pumpkin filling:

• 340g pumpkin puree
• double cream (or whipping cream) 50ml
• xylitol or other sugar replacement to taste
• decoration: 250ml whipping cream or double cream and raspberries

DIRECTIONS

First prepare base for the cake. Combine together grounded nuts and/or seeds, coconut flour, cacao powder, xylitol, butter, small pinch of salt and cinnamon, until you get uniform dough. You can do it using a spoon or your hands. Prepare round baking tray or tart dish, place a layer of baking paper or grease with some butter. Using your hands fill the bottom and the sides of the tray with dough, press with your fingers until you get even surface.

Heat the oven to 180°C, bake pie crust for about 15 minutes. Then remove from the oven and leave it until it cools down completely.

When the pie crust is cold, you can start with filling. Using handheld mixer combine together: pumpkin puree, cream cheese, double cream, add xylitol or other sugar replacement to taste. My filling became pretty liquid, not as fluffy and stable, as the one in the original recipe. Cake on the photos stayed in the fridge for about 2 hours, and it was still pretty liquid, as you can see. After 24 hours in the fridge it was much more set, but still not the same as the one in the original recipe. So probably it depends of the pumpkin puree and type of cream cheese you use.

Fill up the pie crust and keep in the fridge at least for the night (or less if it sets quicker). When filling is set, whip the cream, arrange on top and decorate with raspberries or pomegranate seeds like in Family on Keto recipe.

You can store it in the fridge for about 3 days.

Enjoy!

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