Pumpkin glory with lemon zest cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2
  
  cups packed finely grated pumpkin, angel hair style
  
• 1
  
  cup sugar
  
• 2
  
  tablespoons honey
  
• 3
  
  ounces water
  
• 1
  
  ounce fresh lemon juice
  
• 
  
  zest of one lemon
  
• 
  
  pinch of salt
  
• 
  
  cinnamon stick
  
• 3
  
  drops almond essence, optional
  
• 
  
  optional splash of amaretto or brandy
  
• 
  
  handful of blanched almond slivers, optional
  
• 2
  
  cups gingersnap cookie crumbs ( I love Anna’s ginersnaps for this)
  
• 2
  
  tablespoons cane sugar
  
• 1/2
  
  cup melted butter
  
• 32
  
  ounces cream cheese, softened
  
• 7/8
  
  cup organic cane sugar
  
• 
  
  pinch of salt
  
• 4
  
  eggs, beaten
  
• 2
  
  tablespoons flour
  
• 2
  
  tablespoons lemon zest
  
• 1/2
  
  teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 
  
  sprinkle of nutmeg
  

Directions

1. Cut a pumpkin into wedges and peel the skin. Finely grate the pumpkin wedges to make 2 cups of fine angel hair. Make sure you have 2 cups, packed down.
2. In a heavy pan like a Dutch oven combine the grated pumpkin with the sugar, honey, cinnamon, optional almond, lemon, and water. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 15 minutes.
3. By stirring vigorously, break down the fibers of the pumpkin. Add a splash of spirit if you like. Cook another 20-25 minutes or so until the pumpkin has broken down, very close to a puree, stirring frequently. Let cool a bit.
4. Puree the cooked pumpkin mix, removing the cinnamon stick first, preferably in a blender vs. a food mill. Then sneak in a few blanched almonds if you like. Let cool, then chill. You won’t need to can this, because it really won’t last that long.
5. Cut your chilled cheesecake (homemade or store bought) into slices just before serving; generously top each slice with this pumpkin glory, mine with almonds, please. Thank you, Portugal and Spain.
6. But to make your own cheesecake, if you need one, first mix the ginger cookie crumbs with sugar and butter; press into a greased springform pan. Chill.
7. In a large bowl incorporate the cream cheese with the eggs, sugar, salt, lemon, flour, lemon zest, flour, and nutmeg using a mixer or by hand. Pour this mixture into the chilled crust pan.
8. In a preheated oven place the cheesecake in a shallow water bath. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 250 and continue to bake until firm, about 1 1/4 hours or so. Let cool completely, remove pan ring, then chill before serving.