How to make the crust:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and ginger and stir.
• Next, grate in the cold butter. With your fingers, work the dough until it forms large crumbs.
• Add in the egg yolk and blackstrap molasses and work it into the dough.
• Continue mixing the crust ingredients until it all comes together to form a ball.
• Take 1/3 of the dough (sometimes I need a tad more than that) and press it evenly across the bottom of a springform cheesecake pan. Take your time and get it nice and even.
• Place the pan into the 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 6 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

How to make the cheesecake filling:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the softened cream cheeses.
• With the paddle attachment, whip the cream cheese on medium speed until creamy, pausing a few times to scrape down the sides with a spatula.
• Combine the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat the sugar mix into the cream cheese on medium speed until combined.
• Next, add the eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla to the mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed for a couple more minutes until evenly combined. Be careful not to overwhip once the eggs are in.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix just until evenly combined.

  I like to take off my paddle attachment and use it to do one last scrape and stir on the bottom of the bowl to be sure that there are no streaks of cream cheese.
• Set your bowl of filling aside for a few minutes while you finish the crust.

How to finish the crust and pour in the filling:

• Take the cooled bottom crust and carefully attach the sides of the springform pan to the bottom.
• Using the remaining 2/3 of the crust dough, roll it into narrow logs and place them evenly around the sides of the pan, then begin pressing the dough evenly up the sides of the pan.
• Continue pressing the dough up the side of the pan evenly all around until it is about 1.5-1.75 inches up the side.
• Finally, pour your cheesecake batter into the pan, scraping the remaining batter out of the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Place the cheesecake in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 1.5 hours.
• After it has baked for 1.5 hours, turn off the oven and open the oven door partway, but leave the cheesecake in there for another 30-45 minutes.
• Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and with a very thin knife or rubber spatula (my food processor came with a super thin one that I like to use for this purpose), gently slide it around the outside of the crust to separate it from the side of the pan.
• Allow the cheesecake to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Cover the cheesecake with saran wrap and place it the refrigerator.
• Allow it to refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving, or you can make it a day or two in advance. Right before you serve, gently slide a knife again between the crust and the side of the pan, and then carefully remove the sides of the springform pan.

How to decorate the cheesecake

• Arrange the fresh cranberries (some half and some whole), pecan halves, whole star anise, mint leaves, and finely chopped pecans around the edges of the cheesecake.

Serve and enjoy!