Pumpkin Cheesecake… Cheseball. Your simplest Holiday Dessert Recipe, Ever.

Some find cheeseballs too kitsch, like beehive hairdos or cone shaped bras. Others, picturing the tinted bright orange and preservative-packed cheeseball their aunt served during the holidays, think of a cheeseball as a unsavory concoction best only served next to smoke-flavored salami from Cracker Barrel. I, however, think kitsch has a holy place in heaven's decor, sixties relics are pretty awesome, and cheeseballs are one of the true delights of the holidays.

So are pumpkin cheesecakes.

Introducing the pumpkin cheesecake cheeseball.

Through rigorous testing and sampling I discovered a couple of things about dessert cheeseballs, and pumpkin cheeseballs in particular. One, though unconventional, they are delicious. Two, too much pumpkin makes an unappetizing cheesecake blob, and it’s the spices that makes the ball tastes like a pumpkin cheeseball not always the pumpkin (think of a PSL). Three, ground pecans make just as much a fabulous cheeseball thickener as they do a traditional cheesecake base. Four, cheesecake balls love to be served with gingersnaps.

Serve this cheeseball for dessert, with gingersnaps or almond crisps, and a strong old fashioned in an etched high ball glass. Note * - you will need to grind pecans and chill the ball overnight. *

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cheeseball

makes 2 cheeseballs.

4 ounces salted cultured butter, room temperature

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cups white sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup and 2/3 cup toasted pecans (divided)

In a large mixing bowl or in a mixer with a paddle, cream the butter. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Add half the cream cheese, mix until blended, and scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Then add the remaining cream cheese and sugar and blend again. Add the pumpkin and spices to the bowl, mix for five seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then continue mixing until smooth.

Grind one cup of pecans in a food processor until they become the consistency of polenta. If you don't have a food processor, divide the pecans into batches and finely chop. Don't use a blender or over-process them, or you'll create pecan butter.

Add the ground pecans to the pumpkin cream cheese mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. Divide into two roughly spherical shapes, wrap in parchment, and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning the balls will be firm enough so that you can shape them into spheres. Create balls, and before serving, press the outside with the remaining pecans.

Note: If you wait to roll the ball in toasted nuts, this ball also freezes well. If you leave the pumpkin out, and add a splash of run or brandy, kabam!, you've got yourself an eggnog cheeseball for December!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was first posted in 2015 but stands as one of my favorite holiday recipes, ever.