I’m still going strong on my pumpkin game. After the Pumpkin cheesecake, I made earlier this month was well received in the family, I decided to take it up another level with these Pumpkin caramel bars. The recipe is as simple and it doesn’t need too much effort, but boy oh boy are we in for a treat.
These pumpkin bars are made with 3 delicious layers. A buttery biscuit base, followed by a layer of pumpkin cheesecake and topped with a lovely caramel sauce. You can use readymade caramel sauce or try this recipe from bigger bolder baking that makes the most delicious salted caramel sauce.
Making Pumpkin puree at home.
To make pumpkin puree, pressure cook 300 gms peeled and cut yellow pumpkin with 1/4 cup water, with the weight on for about 10 minutes. Let it cool completely. The pumpkin will be soft and mushy and can be easily mashed with a spoon or a potato masher. I found cut pumpkin on Bigbasket, in just the quantity I needed and this saved up so much time and effort. Freeze any leftover puree.
Other Recipes Using Pumpkin
I generally make a large batch of pumpkin puree and freeze them in little ziplock bags, instead of making a small batch every time. There are plenty of baked goodies you can make using pumpkin. One of my favourites is this pumpkin bread, which is a delicious option for breakfast and tea time. And cosy weather like this definitely calls for Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. It immediately upgrades pumpkin to a decadent and moreish dessert.
If you try any of the recipes from my blog, please post them on Instagram tagging me (Send me a screenshot if yours is a private account) or email the pictures to me at ba************@gm***.com. I would be so so happy to see you trying recipes from here.
Pumpkin Caramel Bars
For the base:
50 gms butter, melted
200 gms digestive biscuits, powdered
For the cheesecake layer:
350gms cream cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
2 tbsp cornflour
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange food colour (optional)
For the caramel layer
1/2 cup readymade caramel sauce or make your own
- To begin with, line an 8 X 8-inch square tin with butter paper. Let the butter paper overhang on the sides. This makes it easier to take the cheesecake out of the tin once it is baked.
- To make the base, melt the butter and add the powdered biscuits. Mix the two using a spoon until the mixture resembles crumbs. Spread it on to the base of the prepared cake tin. Press the mixture into the base into an even layer, using the back of a spoon. Keep refrigerated while you get the cheesecake batter ready.
- Preheat the oven to 160 C.
- To make the cheesecake, place all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl.
- Using a beater, mix the ingredients together until you have a smooth mixture. Pour this filling gently over the biscuit base and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hr.
- The filling is baked, when the sides of the cheesecake are set and there’s a slight wobble in the centre. Let the cake cool down completely in the oven and then let it refrigerate for 1 hr.
- Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and gently pour the caramel sauce all over. Spread it all over the cheesecake in a thin layer and put it back in the fridge for at least an hour or until serving time.
- To serve the cheesecake bars, take the tin out of the fridge. Pull the cheesecake out of the tin by holding the butter paper and then cut into bars.
