There are variants of Harvest Festival all around the world, and they all happen when the weather turns cold. In the US it’s called Thanksgiving. The last Thursday in November is the most important holiday in the American calendar. On the busiest travel weekend of the year in the US, everyone rushes home to sit down with family and enjoy a huge, gut-busting meal, usually followed by sprawling on the sofa in a tryptophan-trance watching a football game. The feast, which is traditionally epic in proportions, usually includes the traditional turkey with all the trimmings, and is invariably finished off with pumpkin pie. I think I may the only American who does not like pumpkin pie.
After I grew up and moved away from home, I often hosted what I called my ‘Thanksgiving for Orphans’, meaning a dinner for people whose families, like mine, were too far away for them to join. If anyone wanted pumpkin pie at these dinners, they were told to bring it themselves, because I’ve never made one and have no intention of doing so.
However, I may have mellowed with age, and I now feel somewhat obligated to offer up something that at least resembles pumpkin pie. So I came up my own version: no-bake pumpkin cheesecake. I make it with fresh pumpkin, delicately-spiced and not overly-sweetened, and a sharp and citrusy ginger biscuit crust. And it’s no-bake, so it’s dead easy to put together. Why not give it a try this year – at your Harvest Festival or Thanksgiving dinner, or even at Christmas?
Happy Holidays to all of you – whatever, whenever and however you celebrate!
No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
A dead simple, no-bake pumpkin cheesecake for Harvest Festivals and Thanksgiving alike.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 250g packet ginger biscuits, blended to yield 2 cups fine crumbs
- Zest of 1/2 small orange (or tangerine)
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
Filling
- 300g light cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, steamed and drained pumpkin (or other sweet squash), blended to yield 1 cup (240 ml) purée
- 1/4 cup (60g) brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- Pinch allspice
- Pinch ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) double cream
Topping
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) double cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1/2 small orange/tangerine
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Make the crust by mixing the biscuit crumbs with the zest and butter and pressing into a 10-inch (25cm) pie tin. Chill while you make the filling.
- Mix the cream cheese with the pumpkin, sugar and spices until well-blended.
- In a separate bowl, whip the cream with the vanilla into firm peaks, then gently fold into the pumpkin mixture.
- Spoon filling into chilled crust, spread evenly and chill overnight.
- Just prior to serving, whip the cream and vanilla for your topping and pipe it onto the cheesecake to make a decorative pattern. Sprinkle with lemon and/or orange zest and serve.
Notes
- I have been asked if this tastes much like pumpkin pie and the answer is yes.
- It tastes enough like the ‘real’ thing to satisfy traditionalists, but is different enough that I’m happy eating it.
- It’s essentially a fresher, milder and zingier version of what you might be used to. 2.
- If you are lucky enough to live in a country where ‘Speculaas’ (or similar) biscuits are available, use those for the crust instead – amazing.
- If you can’t find them, or ginger biscuits, blend up some gingerbread men, or else use graham crackers and add a pinch of powdered ginger and nutmeg.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 360
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does this cheesecake actually taste like pumpkin pie?
The author addresses this directly in the notes: yes, it tastes enough like pumpkin pie to satisfy traditionalists. She describes it as “a fresher, milder and zingier version” — lighter than classic pumpkin pie thanks to using fresh pumpkin and a ginger biscuit crust with citrus zest rather than a pastry shell with heavy spicing.
Why does this recipe use fresh pumpkin rather than canned?
The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of peeled, steamed, and drained pumpkin blended to yield 1 cup (240 ml) of purée — a deliberate choice by the author, who describes the result as “delicately-spiced and not overly-sweetened.” The draining step is important: fresh pumpkin retains more moisture than canned, and the liquid must come out before blending so the cheesecake sets properly.
Why does the cheesecake need to chill overnight?
The filling is set purely by the cold — it contains cream cheese, whipped cream, and pumpkin with no gelatin or oven baking. The instructions call for spooning the filling into the chilled crust and chilling overnight (not just a few hours) so the whipped cream and cream cheese can fully firm up around the pumpkin purée into a sliceable cheesecake.
What can I use instead of ginger biscuits for the crust?
The notes give several options: Speculaas biscuits (if available) are the author’s top recommendation; gingerbread men work too; and graham crackers with a pinch of powdered ginger and nutmeg are the fallback. All are blended to yield 2 cups of fine crumbs, then mixed with orange and lemon zest and 1/4 cup (60g) melted butter.
