Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Pumpkin Tart With A Biscoff Pecan Crust

This pumpkin chocolate swirl cheesecake tart is quite irresistible. Bite after bite you will keep going back for more. The cookie crust is delicious with the addition of the pecans and cinnamon and the pumpkin pie spiced filling is perfectly creamy with rich chocolate swirls throughout it. Its the perfect fall dessert. I love to make it in a tart pan but it can easily be made into bars baked in a square baking pan. Chocolate and pumpkin are so good together in any baked good including this delicious cheesecake tart.

One of the many good things going for this tart is how quickly it bakes up compared to a regular cheesecake. It also does not require a water bath when baking. It’s super simple to whip up being that the crust is a press in cookie crust requiring very little effort to make. Speaking of the crust, I choose a biscoff biscuit one for two reasons, one - I haven’t had them in forever and I love them and two - they have a beautiful caramel flavour that plays well with the pumpkin spices. If you don’t have any biscoff biscuits available where you live that is quite alright. I have made this same tart with graham cracker crumbs and with ginger snap crumbs as well and both were fabulous so feel free to substitute to suit.

When it comes to the filling, you will unfortunately have to dirty a few bowls making it but it is so worth it. The original recipe I had posted called for melted chocolate instead of the cocoa powder that is now in the existing recipe and I will explain why. I loved the version with the melted chocolate but I found on testing it a few more times that when it came time to dolloping it onto the cheesecake it was already starting to set and almost impossible to swirl. What I would end up doing is sticking it in the microwave for a few seconds to help it melt and become pourable again. This wouldn’t happen every time I made it but it was unpredictable enough to make me want to look for another chocolate swirl method - thus the cocoa powder method which is totally predictable, stays pourable and makes the prettiest chocolate swirls. That being said if you would like to use the melted chocolate version over the cocoa powder just melt 3 oz of dark chocolate and whisk it into the reserved cheesecake mixture as the recipe requires.

You have to add this rich and fabulous pumpkin dessert to your fall baking list. You will love the earthy pumpkin, warm spice, rich chocolate flavours and the crunchy pecan cinnamon cookie crust. What’s not to love with this combination of all flavours?!? Enjoy!

Recipe

Ingredients

For the crust

• 1¾ cup biscoff biscuit crumbs (graham cracker crumbs alternatively or ginger snap crumbs also would work well)
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 6 tbsps unsalted butter, melted

For the Cream Cheese Filling

• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature and softened
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsps cream or whole milk
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 egg

For the Chocolate Swirl

• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3½-4 tbsp of water

For the Pumpkin Filling

• 1 cup canned pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix)
• ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (more to taste)
  
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9-10 inch tart pan. (9 inch will be a very filled tart pan/ 10 inch will give you a thinner crust and cheesecake layers)
2. Combine the biscoff crumbs or graham cracker crumbs if using, pecans, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. (You can whiz everything but the pecans in a food processor to make the crumbs and then add the pecans and pulse a few times to save you some chopping time)
3. Add the melted butter to the crumbs and stir to combine. Empty into tart pan and firmly press crumbs into the bottom and sides of it.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes or until the edges are turning gold and the bottom is set.
5. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack while you make the filling.
6. In large bowl, beat the cream cheese with the flour and sugar until smooth. Then add in the vanilla and egg and beat until fully incorporated. Finally beat in the cream or milk and set side.
7. Whisk the cocoa powder and water together in a medium bowl until smooth. It should be slightly runny. Then scoop out and add 2/3 cup of the cream cheese mixture into it until fully incorporated.
8. In small bowl, mix pumpkin filling ingredients. Add to remaining cream cheese filling; mix well and pour into crust.
9. Spoon dollops of reserved chocolate cream cheese filling randomly over pumpkin filling. Swirl with knife or tooth pick to marble mixtures.
10. Transfer to oven on a baking sheet and bake approx 25 minutes or until just set. Cool completely and then refrigerate at least 1-2 hours to fully set. Remove from pan, slice and serve. Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container for up to 5 days.