I hate to admit this but my daughter and I both can sometimes act like Grinches during the holidays.  It’s not that we are against them per se, sometimes we just get overwhelmed by all the hub-bub that goes along with the season.  That being said, we DO celebrate the holidays, however a little lower key than some.

One thing we completely indulge ourselves in though is baking together.  It’s our way to specifically carve out time to spend together and make up for the rest of the busy year when we’re typically running around at a hundred miles per hour.  Okay, we’re busy during the holidays too but we just like to bake. 

In particular, we love making this roasted squash cheesecake.  I don’t know why we only make this during the holidays because my daughter and I love, love, love this cake and we feel it’s certainly worth the effort. It’s a bit of a spin on a layered pumpkin cheese cake we found years ago and were inspired to create our own.  We wanted to add some depth of flavor and the roasted spicy winter squash we typically make adds plenty of that.  Along with the roasted squash we changed the crust on ours to a chocolate one with light floral notes from freshly ground nutmeg.

Full disclosure on prep time, I typically make the spice rubneeded to make the roasted squash well in advance mostly because I use it forso many other recipes and then I roast the squash the day before I make thecake otherwise this recipe would take too long to make in my opinion.  It would certainly crush my daughter’sattention span if we did it all at once. I honestly feel that if you cheat on this one and use can pumpkin pureeyou’ll be missing out so please take the time to roast the squash and make yourown puree.  I promise you, you’ll thankme.

*Happy Baking*
I am,
The Urban Mountaineer

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Before you get started, here are links to the spice rub aswell as the roasted squash.  Recipes forthose will also be included at the end of this one in case you have a snow-dayand want to do it all at one time.

Roasted Squash Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 325

First: Make the pie crust
9-inch chocolate pie crust
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ cup fine crumbled chocolate graham cracker
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
6 TBL melted butter

The magic of this crust is the freshly ground nutmeg as itadds a wonderful floral aroma and flavor so please, please, please do noteliminate this ingredient and please, please, please freshly grind the nutmegright before you use it. I promise theextra effort is worth it.

So to make this easy breezy pie crust simply melt the butter.  While you are waiting for the butter to melt grind up your nutmeg and then mix all of the dry ingredients together.  Add in the butter once it’s melted, mix and then press it into a pie tin. 

Now make the filling.

Roasted Squash Cheese Cake Filling
2- 8 oz packages of cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup sugar
½ cup roasted squash puree

Beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth, add eggs one at a time.  Remove 1 cup of batter and pour into bottom of pie crust and smooth out, then set aside.   Then gently mix in the roasted squash puree with the remainder of batter.

Fill chocolate graham cracker crust and bake for 35-40 minutes or until middle is set.  Let cool then refrigerate for 3 hrs. before serving.

To Serve: I like to mix some additional crumbled chocolate crackers with crushed glazed pecans and sprinkle them on top and then of course dollop with a little bit of freshly made whip cream.

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Roasted Spice Blend
¼ cup fennel seeds
1 TBL coriander seeds
1 TBL grains of paradise
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 TBL chili powder
1 TBL chipotle powder
1 ½ TBL salt
1 tsp of smoked sea salt
1 TBL ground cinnamon
2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

The first thing you need to do is lightly toast some of these spices.  A light toasting (be careful not to burn as this can happen very quickly) releases the beautiful flavors and adds depth of flavor to the blend.   So toast the whole seeds; fennel, coriander, whole pepper and grains of paradise in a pan on the stove top.  Then add in the red pepper flakes (be careful not to get in your eyes or inhale).  Toss quickly for a minute then set aside to cool in another pan.  Once everything has cooled you can grind this up in a spice blender then add to a bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients. 

Store in a cool dry place and you’ll have a wonderful versatile blend to use for soups, roasted squash, pumpkin and other autumn/winter recipes.

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Roasted Squash
About 2-3lbs butternut squash (I use 1-2 medium size squash)
1 Stick unsalted butter
2 TBL Granulated Sugar
2 tsp. Raw Sugar
3 TBL chopped Sage Leaves
¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar
¼ cup Dark Molasses
2 ½ tsp. Toasted Spice Blend
Salt and pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel the squash (I use a vegetable peeler). And discard the seeds, then cut into small squares. Place in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper

• Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  When the butter ceases to foam and has turned a light brown, pull the pan off the heat and immediately add the sage, sugar, vinegar (stand back so as not to get splattered), molasses and toasted spice mix.  Mix well and let simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors.

• Pour the vinegar mixture over the squash and toss well, then transfer to a heavy rimmed backing dish large enough to hold the squash in a single layer.  Place in the oven and roast, tossing at least once, until very tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Set aside until cool enough to handle but still warm, so the liquids are runny.

• Working in batches, if necessary, transfer the warm squash and all the cooking liquids to a food processor and process until smooth.  Use immediately, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

• Yield: About 2 Cups of puree

Servingsuggestions: serve the puree on its own, in soups, polenta, ravioli oras a side dish for roasted turkey or chicken. When I use this in ravioli I reduce the puree even more in a pan withbalsamic vinegar and sage.

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