Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 5 oz. chocolate wafer cookies, such as Nabisco's Famous
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2-1/2 oz. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 lb. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin purée
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1-1/4 cups plus 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream or crème fraîche
• 1 Tbs. honey

Directions

1. Set an oven rack in the center position and heat the oven to 350°F. In a food processor, grind the cookies with the sugar until the crumbs are fine. Pour in the melted butter and pulse again so the crumbs are evenly dampened. Press the mixture across the bottom and partly up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with your hands, then use a flat-bottomed, straight-sided glass to compact and smooth the base and push the crumbs halfway up the pan. Bake the crust until it feels set, 8 to 10 minutes, then move it to a rack to cool.
2. Move the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven and keep the oven heated. Once the pan has cooled, cover the outside bottom and sides with 2 overlapping 18-inch squares of heavy-duty aluminum foil, then place the pan inside a large baking pan.
3. Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the cream cheese at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and mix until incorporated. Beat in the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla until the filling looks smooth. Add the eggs, egg yolk, and 1-1/4 cups of the cream, mixing only until everything comes together. Put the batter aside.
4. Warm the remaining 1/3 cup cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is just shy of boiling, then take it off the heat. Add the chocolate and leave it undisturbed for 2 minutes. Whisk the mixture smooth, then whisk in 1 cup of the pumpkin batter.
5. Pour the rest of the pumpkin batter into the crust. Spoon the chocolate batter over the top in 2-tablespoon mounds. To create the marbling, start in a quadrant and drag a wooden skewer or toothpick through the batter in repeated capital cursive L shapes, taking care not to dip far enough to catch the crust. Rotate the pan and repeat the same swirling motion in the next quadrant, continuing until the whole surface is patterned.
6. Add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking pan. Bake until the cheesecake moves only in the center when gently jostled, 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes. Turn off the oven, prop the door open, and let the cake remain inside for another 45 minutes.
7. Lift the pan out of the water bath, remove the foil, and loosen the cake from the pan by tracing around the edge with a thin, sharp knife. Let it cool fully on a rack. Cover the pan with plastic wrap without touching the top of the cake, and refrigerate for no less than 8 hours and no more than 24 hours.
8. Beat the heavy cream, sour cream, honey, and vanilla until the peaks are medium-soft.
9. Take off the springform ring. Slip a long, thin metal spatula beneath the bottom crust, then carefully transfer the cheesecake to a flat serving plate. For clean slices, warm a knife in hot water, dry it, cut, then wipe and rewarm the knife between slices. Serve with the whipped cream.