Jack O Lantern Cheesecakes Recipes

Steps:

• Ginger Shortbread Crust:
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Place flour, sugar and ground ginger in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix together. Add egg yolk and softened butter and pulse until the dough comes together.
• Press the dough onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with your fingers, then smooth it out with an offset spatula. Prick the crust a few times with a fork to prevent the crust from puffing up during baking.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown.
• Let cool completely.
• Beat the reserved egg white lightly, then brush it onto the crust to prevent it from becoming soggy.
• Pumpkin Cheesecake:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Fill a baking pan about 3/4-inch deep with hot water. Place it on the bottom rack of the oven to create a steam bath.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, whole eggs and egg yolks until creamy.
• Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and ginger, and add to the cream cheese mixture; mix well.
• Beat in the heavy cream and vanilla, then add the pumpkin and beat just until mixed thoroughly.
• Pour the cream cheese batter over the prepared crust and bake on the middle oven rack for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• Allow the cheesecake to cool completely.
• Place in the refrigerator and chill overnight.
• Use a jack-o'-lantern template to decorate the cheesecake with the cocoa powder.

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cakes according to package directions using two 10-in. fluted tube pans. Invert cakes onto wire racks; cool completely. Meanwhile, tint frosting orange using red and yellow food coloring., Cut thin slice off bottom of each cake. Spread one cake bottom with frosting; press flat sides together to make a pumpkin shape. Place a foil ball in the center to support the "stem"; top with an ice cream cake cone. Frost cake with remaining frosting. , To decorate face, roll out fondant to 1/8-in. thickness; cut into desired shapes for mouth and nose. Remove tops from two Oreo cookies; cut half-circles in filling for eyes. Press cookies and fondant into frosting to make the face.

Steps:

• Beat together the shortening, sugars and the egg until fluffy. Stir in the molasses. Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt, and blend into the sugar mixture. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 3-4 hours.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. This is a tender dough, so work quickly to roll the dough 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface and cut out pumpkin shapes using a pumpkin cookie cutter, or freehand using a small knife. If you're cutting your pumpkins freehand, don't make the stem too thin or it will break off after baking. Use a spatula to lift the pumpkins onto lightly greased baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes. Don't overbake. Cool completely on wire racks before decorating.
• To decorate the pumpkins, set aside 1/3 cup of the royal icing and color it green. Color the remaining icing orange by blending in red and yellow food coloring. (Start with 5 drops of red and 6 drops of yellow and add more coloring as desired to make the color more intense.)
• Spread orange frosting over the pumpkin, avoiding the stem. Allow to set, then use a toothpick to dab green frosting on the stem.
• You can press on candy corn or chocolate chips to make a face on each pumpkin, or you can pipe a face on with melted chocolate using the following method. Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave in a heatproof bowl for 1 minutes. The chips may look unmelted, but stir them with a spoon to see if they have actually softened before putting them in for another minute, if necessary.
• Spoon the melted chocolate into a zipper-lock bag. Seal the bag, pressing out any air. Use a toothpick to make a very tiny hole in one corner of the bag to release a thin stream of chocolate. Pipe eyes and noses and jagged grins as desired. Allow the chocolate to set before stacking the cookies.
• With beaters or a standing mixer, whip the egg white and lemon juice until frothy. At medium speed, beat in the confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture is thick but still liquid enough to beat. Then beat on high until the mixture is thick and glossy, about 3 minutes. Cover the surface with plastic wrap while waiting to use it. Royal icing will set to a firm, glossy finish when applied to a cookie. The icing can be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water.
• Cut the tops off the peppers and reserve. Remove the seeds and membranes. Put the peppers and the tops in the boiling water and cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Plunge the peppers into the ice bath. Once cool, remove them and use a sharp knife to carve a jack-o-lantern face into one side of each pepper.
• Return the water to a boil, add the macaroni and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain (don't rinse the pasta).
• Heat the half-and-half in a large saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a simmer. Continue simmering until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Whisk in the Cheddar until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
• Off the heat, add the macaroni to the saucepan and stir to combine. Stir in some of the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce if needed. Season with salt if needed. Let sit for 10 minutes, then divide the mac and cheese among the peppers and cap each with a pepper top.