Pumpkin Cheesecake Jars
Like pumpkin spice? You’ll love this Pumpkin Cheesecake, layered with pumpkin spice cake, sweet whipped cream, salted bourbon caramel sauce, and crunchy spiced graham crumbles. Served in individual mason jars, this dessert looks fancy and impressive but is so simple to make!
This dessert is a fantastic alternative to Pumpkin Pie!
Bottom Layer: Pumpkin Spice Cake
This deliciously moist cake is baked in a jelly roll pan to make a thin layer. Then, you take a round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut rounds of cake. These rounds make the base layer of the cheesecake jar. Use your own homemade Pumpkin Spice to make it even more special!
Based on a recipe by Audra Fullerton, The Baker Chick
Next Layer: Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Salty, sweet, and smoky — this rich caramel sauce is easy to make and is the perfect accompaniment to the spiced cake and cheesecake.
Middle Layer: No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
Creamy and delicious, the no-bake Pumpkin Cheesecake filling is the star of the dessert! It’s easy to whip up in no time flat.
Based on a recipe by Sally’s Baking Addiction
Top Layer: Sweet Whipped Cream
Sweeten heavy cream with a touch of icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. It melds beautifully with the cheesecake.
Garnish: Spiced Graham Crumbles and more caramel!
The spiced graham crumbles add a delicious crunchy topping to the cheesecake. Top with additional caramel, and you have the fanciest looking dessert that will be sure to impress.
Based on recipe by Amanda Biddle, Striped Spatula
Variation Idea
Instead of individual servings in jars, you could bake the cheesecake in a 8″ or 9″ springform pan in a thin layer. Cool completely, then add the cheesecake filling and refrigerate until set. Before serving, remove the cake from the springform pan, top with whipped cream, graham crumbles, and caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Jars
Equipment
- Jelly roll pan or deep sided sheet pan
- stand mixer with whisk & paddle attachments
- Sheet pan
- parchment paper
- 12 Wide-mouth mason jars about 250ml or 8 oz each
- Piping bags optional
- Large saucepan
- Large round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter or use a glass
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ Tbsp Pumpkin Spice
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp vegetable or neutral oil I used avocado oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup full fat milk
No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
- 1 cup heavy cream cold
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese softened
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup icing sugar
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- Big pinch salt
Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp bourbon or 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
Sweet Whipped Cream
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream cold
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Spiced Graham Crumbles
- 9 sheets graham crackers crushed to coarse pieces
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Big pinch sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
Pumpkin Spice Cake Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare the sheet pan by lining with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice stirring with a whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add dark brown sugar and eggs, and beat at medium high speed until light and frothy. Add oil and pumpkin puree and beat until combined. Add a third of the dry ingredient mixture, followed by half the milk and beat until just combined. Add another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the rest of the milk, and beat until just combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Do not overbeat.
- Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan, smoothing the batter into the corners until it’s as level as possible.
- Bake at 350 for aobut 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely. Cover and chill pumpkin cake until time to assemble.
No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the cold heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks. Set aside in another bowl so you can clean out stand mixer for the next step.
- In the bowl of the cleaned-out stand mixer with whisk, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Add pumpkin puree, icing sugar, brown sugar and beat until perfectly smooth.
- Add vanilla, pumpkin spice, and salt, and beat until incorporated.
- Using a spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture so that the whipped cream doesn’t deflate. Chill pumpkin cheesecake filling until time to assemble.
Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add sugar and water. Do not stir; gently swirl the saucepan if needed.
- Cook, not stirring, until sugar and water mix becomes an amber colour. Don’t let it get too dark!
- Remove from heat. Immediately add heavy cream and salt and stir vigorously; the caramel will bubble and foam up a lot but keep stirring until the bubbling stops and foam disappears.
- When the bubbling stops and caramel looks smooth, add the bourbon and stir well to combine.
- Store caramel in a jar with a lid in the refrigerator until time to assemble; it will thicken up when it’s cold.
Sweet Whipped Cream Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat heavy cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until time to assemble.
Spiced Graham Crumbles Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper and setting aside.
- In a large ziplock bag, roughly crush grahams, so that the pieces remain sizable and aren’t reduced to crumbs.
- Add crushed grahams to a large bowl and add brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and stir to combine. Add melted butter and vanilla and stir until grahams are fully coated.
- Pour crumbles onto prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.
- Let cool to room temperature and break apart any larger pieces.
- Store crumbles in a sealed container at room temperature until time to assemble.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Jar Assembly
- Have all your components at hand, ready to go:· Pumpkin Spice Cake · No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling· Spiced Graham Crumbles· Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce· Whipped Cream Topping
- Cut cake into circles, large enough to fit into the bottom of your jar or dish that you’re using.
- Line bottom of your jar or dish with the cake circle.
- Fill a cake decorating bag with the cheesecake filling. Pipe filling into each jar, covering the bottom cake layer.
- Drizzle caramel over cheesecake.
- Dollop a large spoonful of whipped topping over the caramel.
- Drizzle more caramel over the whipped topping.
- Finish each jar by topping with a tablespoon (or more, if you want) of the spiced graham crumbles.
- Makes 12 servings.