Impossibly Delicious Eggnog Cheesecake

There are so many things to love about the holidays: time with family and friends, good food, festive lights, jolly music. 

Okay, who am I kidding? I’m actually a huge Grinch and I really don’t care for the holidays (especially the music), but there is one thing that I do love — the desserts.

Once upon a time, circa 2008, I decided that I would try to engage in the holiday spirit. I bought a tree, gifts, had a small shindig, and hosted dinner (it was just my parents, but none-the-less). While I still swear it was the prettiest tree (it really was!), it didn’t do anything for my long term holiday spirit. I’m still a big bah humbug. 

However, there was one thing that came out of that year that became a tradition — eggnog cheesecake. 

I’d always been a sucker for cheesecake, but, as of that year, had never made one. I’d heard it was a fickle thing, but thought I’d try my hand. Lo and behold, it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it would be and it was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted. 

Seriously. 

Over the next few years I started making them for multiple gatherings and the response has  always been the same.

“HOLY CRAP, THAT’S GOOD!”

Like I said, making cheesecake is really not as difficult as you may think. I don’t have one of those standing mixers, but I imagine that if I did, it would be even more simple. Honestly, the most difficult part of making a cheesecake seems to be finding a good time to make one. 

Cheesecakes take quite a while to cool, so I usually end up making mine at night and waking to cover and stick it in the fridge. (I know, ugh.) I really don’t recommend covering it early or letting it cool for too long; an excess or absence of moisture can make or break your holiday dessert. There is an alternative to this though…. 

Prep Ahead

Like I mentioned above, the cake can take a while to cool. A great way to handle this is to prep the batter ahead of time and bake it a day or two later. The key to doing this successfully is to let it sit out for a bit, increasing the temperature, then to re-beat the batter, returning it to the original consistency.

The Crust

The gingersnap crust really makes this cake. I generally just use the generic store brand of gingersnaps. I’ve used higher-end ones, as well, but they’re not worth the investment. I also found that they sell bags of gingersnaps at our local dollar store, which worked out really well when our grocer ran out one holiday season. 

When you make the crumbs for the crust, use a food processor — preferably an old one ‘cause those dense little cookies can cause a bit of damage to the container. Don’t waste your time trying to break them in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, the crumbs won’t be fine enough to evenly spread and you’ll end up with a counter full of crumbs because they’ll rip right through the bag. 

While a lot of recipes call for unsalted butter, I prefer salted butter for the crust. Especially when served with the carmel sauce, the salt really adds to the flavor depth of the final product. 

Serves 12

Crust:

1 ½ c. gingersnap crumbs
¼ c. powdered sugar
⅓ c. butter melted 

Cheesecake batter:

4 – 8 oz bars of cream cheese
1 ⅔ c. granulated sugar
¼ c. corn starch
1 T. vanilla
2 eggs
¾ c. eggnog
¼ t. nutmeg
½ t. cinnamon 

Carmel sauce:

1 c. brown sugar
½ c. granulated sugar
1 T. flour
¾ c. heavy whipping cream
2 T. spiced rum

Preheat oven to 350℉.

Crust:

Combine cookie crumbs with powdered sugar. Stir to coat evenly.

Add melted butter and mix until evenly coated.

Spread crumbs evenly along the bottom of a 9” springform pan or 2 6” springform pans. 

Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Cheesecake batter:

Combine cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon with sugar, then combine with cream cheese. Beat until fluffy. Add vanilla.

Add eggs individually, then slowly add in eggnog.

The batter should be smooth and creamy.

Fill a separate cake pake with hot water and put on the lower shelf of the oven. 

Wrap springform pans with baked crusts in aluminum foil. (This is done to catch grease that will drip out of the bottom of the pan.)

Pour batter onto crust and bake at 350℉ between an hour and an hour and a half, until the top is golden brown. 

When you remove it from the oven, take off the aluminum foil and place it on a cooling rack. Cool for at least 2-3 hours, cover, and refrigerate. 

Sauce:

In a saucepan, stir sugar and flour together first to prevent flour lumps, then mix in liquid ingredients. Bring to a low simmer. Cool. 

Final note: Cheesecake can be a bit expensive to make. I’ve found that shopping at Aldi is a big dollar saver. Cream cheese is always a fraction of the price of name brand cream cheese and the quality is comparable. Bonus: it’s usually on sale over the holidays. Butter, heavy whipping cream, and dairy in general is also much less expensive and their dairy is rBST-free (a growth hormone). Read this for more reasons why I love Aldi.

I hope you love this cheesecake as much as me and my family do!

— Funky Crunchy Mama