Pumpkin cheesecake

Emily loves this cake to bits. She not only loves it, but she cherishes it. The same as a good sponge cake. This one, invented many years ago when I wrote one of my first books, is still a staple at our house, where things seldom stay the same or are repeated. I love its silkiness, smoothness, color, and vanilla. It is a true beauty that I suggest you make, especially when squash season arrives.

base:
260 g shortbread biscuits
50 g walnuts
75 g roasted hazelnuts
130 g butter, melted

filling:
875 g cream cheese*
300 g light brown sugar
60 g wheat flour
200 g condensed, thickened milk
350 g pumpkin puree (about 600 g of fresh, peeled pumpkin)**
1 vanilla pod seeds
4 medium eggs, room temp

topping:
300 g sour cream
40 g light brown sugar
vanilla paste to taste or seeds from 1/4 vanilla pod
200 g sweet cream

Steam the pumpkins and process. You need 350 g of pumpkin mash.

Heat the oven to 170° on top and bottom mode. Place the rack one level below the middle. Line the base of a cake pan (diameter 23 cm) with baking paper.

Prepare base. Process the cookies to a fine crumb and place in a bowl. Process the nuts to a medium coarse crumb and add to the cookies. Add butter and mix. Put the mixture into the cake pan, smooth along the edges to the top and base to a thickness of 5 mm.

Prepare filling. Put the cream cheese and 50 g of flour in a mixer bowl. Beat on low speed for about 1 minute until the mixture is fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides. While continuing to beat, gradually add 1/3 of the sugar and beat well. Repeat two more times until everything is added. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one and carefully scraping down the sides. In a bowl, mix the pumpkin puree with the remaining flour and condensed milk and, with the mixer running slowly, add it to the cream cheese mixture. Beat everything thoroughly at low speed, but only until a homogeneous mass is formed.

Pour the filling on the base and bake in the oven for 1 h 25 mins. Then remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 6 h, but better for 12 h.

Before serving, put yogurt, sugar, vanilla in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Then, while beating, add the sweet cream and beat until the mixture holds its shape but is still creamy. Spread over the cake, decorate with berries, and serve.