Pumpkin Cheesecake Loaf

Swathi and I decided to embark on another baking adventure one evening after I came back from chorale practice. We ended up finishing up our food-making adventures at 12:30 a.m., so I decided to just stay the night so I wouldn’t have to drive back home (I know it’s only 6 miles away, but sometimes, this feels like a really long way away). When I told my neighbor I wasn’t coming back for the night, his response was, “Do we need to have a safe talk?”

haha.

These were supposed to be muffins (adapted from here), but we only had a mini muffin pan, and did not have the patience or the time to sit there and wait through 5+ batches of mini muffins.

…Although that might have been a better idea, because we baked these as loaves and it ended up taking just under an hour. :x

This is pretty much a perfect blend of sweet + spice. It’s basically pumpkin bread with a cheesecake filling, and was very well-received by everyone who tried it. :D! I was told that I’d make a perfect doctor-wife hybrid by my Davis friend (lawl). His roommate, also known as the guy I interviewed with, said, “You realize that if you make me food again, I’m going to have to marry you, right?”

F: hm…are you an in-stater?
S: …no. :[
F: I’m not sure I can marry you then. :/
S: :[

Haha. :x I’m terrible.

Swathi actually almost banned me from future cooking adventures with her because I broke her metal fork while I was mixing the filling. (Broke as in actually snapped it in half.) I have no idea how I managed to make this happen. :/

Pumpkin Cheesecake Loaf

It looks like a ginormous muffin. That’s a mini springform pan. :x

Ingredients:
(Filling)
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened
-1 large egg
-1 tbsp flour
-1 cup confectioners’ sugar
(Muffins)
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
-1/2 tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. equal parts cinnamon/nutmeg/ground ginger/allspice (we didn’t have pumpkin pie spice, but I think that’s all it has in it?)
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-2 large eggs
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1 cup pumpkin puree
-1/2 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions:
1) (Filling) Combine the cream cheese, egg, flour and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Set aside.
2) (Muffins) Preheat oven to 350˚ F. In a medium bowl, combine the spices, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. Combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil in a separate bowl and mix until blended. Add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
3) Fill each muffin/cake pan about 2/3 full with batter. Add filling in the middle.If making muffins, bake for ~14 minutes. If making loaves, bake for just under an hour.
4) Cool and serve!

Here it is with the filling as not just a filling, but also a topping! (We ended up with a crap ton more filling than our pans could encompass, and we didn’t want to waste it.)