Eggnog Cheesecake

A chocolate graham crust is filled with a cinnamon and nutmeg spiced cream cheese filling spiked with eggnog. Extra creamy, this bakes up higher than your average cheesecake with a silky and luxurious texture that is just delicious with the chocolate crust. My uneasiness over using chocolate with eggnog was for nothing. It’s a combination that works surprisingly well together.

While this doesn’t include rum, you can certainly add a tablespoon or two to the filling or even a little bit of rum extract if you have it on hand. But it doesn’t need it. The warmly spiced eggnog flavor shines through in every single bite.

It is with some trepidation that I announce an exciting new event I have been working on with my friend Christine from The Cupcake Bandits. I am going to keep you in suspense and send you over to my new site to read all about it in my Welcome post!

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-by-3-inch springform pan. In a food processor, pulse graham crackers until fine crumbs form; add melted butter, sugar, and salt, and pulse to combine. Press crumb mixture into bottom and about 1 inch up side of pan.

3. Pour into prepared pan, and place in a large roasting pan or on a sheet pan with sides. Transfer to oven rack, and carefully add enough boiling water to the pan to come 1/2 way up the side of the cake pan. Bake until firm, about 2 hours, adding more boiling water if necessary. Turn off the oven and leave oven door ajar. Let cake cool completely in the oven. Refrigerate and serve with whip cream.