Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

A friend of mine passed this recipe on to me. It's super easy to make and had a couple of our friends fighting over the last piece. I decided to make this instead of a traditional pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, I love the idea of traditional, but in an nontraditional manner- so this fits the bill perfectly.

Whoops, left it in for 2 minutes too long and it got a little brown on top- amateur move! haha

1 1/2 cup almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup coconut creamer (or any other non-dairy creamer)
1 pack vegan vanilla pudding mix (I found mine at Whole Foods)
3 tablespoons cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)
12 oz vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand because a friend said it worked great with the recipe, I'm curious to see how Daiya would do!)
2 tablespoons vegan mayo
Dash of salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup raw Brazil nuts
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 dash cayenne
1 16-ounce can pumpkin puree- BPA free!
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
One pre-made vegan graham crust 

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

In a medium sized pot on the stove top over medium heat add the milk, creamers, pudding mix, and salt. Stir until pudding mix is completely dissolved, then stir in the cornstarch and whisk. Add in the cream cheese, vegan mayo, and sugar- stir until the cream cheese is melted into the mixture and the filling is thick and bubbling. 

Remove from the heat and pour into the blender, adding the cashews and the Brazil nuts as well. Carefully blend (hot liquids steam and can explode in the blender, so using a towel to cover the top of the blender is a good idea), until it is perfectly smooth. Pour 8-10 ounces of the white filling into a seperate container. 

Add the maple syrup, vinegar, pumpkin, and spices into the blender with the remaining white filling and blend until smooth. 

Pour the pumpkin filling 3/4 of the way into the graham cracker crust. Next take the white filling and pour into the center of the pie- use a toothpick or fork to swirl the two together. Bake in the oven for 28-32 minutes, until the top is slightly browned. Allow to cool in the fridge for several hours before serving. 

Recipe adapted from the original  

*There is a bunch of extra batter with this recipe, I used it and made mini cheesecakes by making a graham cracker crust (just graham crackers and butter in the food processor) and I patted it into a lined mini muffin tin, then layered on the leftover filling. I baked them for about 8-10 minutes.