Family Pleasing Pumpkin Cheesecake

Niki (Granneberg) Brooker

2 8 oz. pkgs of softened cream cheese

3 slightly beaten eggs

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of Amoretto liqueur

1/4 tsp. of salt

1 can of Libby's solid pack pumpkin

1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg)

Almond Graham Crumb Crust (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In large bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs and 3/4 cup sugar; mix with electric mixer until well-blended. Add liqueur and salt. Reserve 2 cups mixture.

Combine remaining cream cheese mixture with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and remaining sugar, mix well. Alternate spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture and pumpkin mixture into crust. (If desired, you can take a knife and gently swirl to marble, but I don't find that necessary.)

Bake 35-40 minutes or until cake is almost set (center will still be soft). Cool completely, chill several hours before serving.

Almond Graham Crumb Crust

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup ground almonds

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Combine ingredients; mix well. Press into bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan.

Carl's note: Doesn’t this sound good? The pie crust is not baked separately. This comes out so that the pie is marbled inside and each bite is different. OK, not "each" bite but ..oh, nevermind. .