Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

The Thanksgiving dessert of your dreams has arrived. Everyone in the Delish test kitchen has made too many cheesecake recipes to count. Here's what we've learned:

There's no need to pre-bake the crust. 

When we're dealing with a graham cracker, Oreo, or Nilla Wafer crust, we NEVER pre-bake it. There's no point. It will hold together just fine if you bake it after the cream cheese mixture goes in. 

ALWAYS set up a water bath.  

Surrounded by the steam of hot water, the cheesecake will cook more gently and evenly, and the risk of cracking drops significantly. Bonus! A water bath also results in a creamier texture. 

A little bit of flour helps. 

Another way to reduce the chances of cracking (it's a seriously annoying cheesecake problem!) is to add a couple tablespoons of starch. It'll firm up the cheesecake a bit, instead of relying solely on eggs. We use all-purpose flour but cornstarch works too. 

It's ready when it's slightly jiggly. 

When checking to see if you cheesecake is ready, shake the pan very slightly. If it jiggles a little bit in the center, it's ready. If it's super sloshy all over, it needs to go longer.

Let it cool in an open oven first. 

Yessss, this is yet another step to ensure a smooth perfect top. While cheesecakes aren't hard to make, they can be fussy. Case in point: You need to cool them gradually. Once you think your cheesecake is done, turn off the oven and prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon. Let it cool for 1 hour like this, then cool it to room temperature on the counter, THEN put it in the refrigerator for about 5 hours. It's a process, we know. But it's SO worth it.