Eggnog Cheesecake
Can I be honest? Until recently I had never really tried eggnog. I think it was the idea of raw eggs that scared me. But this year I finally had it and it is quite delicious! Which is bad. This beverage is one of those things that you should never bother trying because even if you love it you a) will only be able to drink it for a month out of the year, and b) will probably not survive that month because if the fat content doesn't kill you the shock of looking at the nutritional facts will.
But I tried it anyway. And I made a cheesecake out of it. Way to make an unheathy food even worse, Lindsay. I did use one package of light cream cheese, but that was more of an attempt to make the cake less dense rather than to make it healthier.
I worked from a recipe that said to loosen cake from the spring form pan immediately after taking it out of the oven. Which I thought meant that I should loosen the pan (i.e. unhook it). Ummm wrong. I knew immediately it couldn't be right, but I did it anyway. Not surprisingly, a huge crack ripped right through the cake. Sigh. Next time I'll run a knife between the cheesecake and the still-hooked pan... duh.
Lily seems to want some cheesecake, too. Maybe next year, daughter.
Eggnog Cheesecake (adapted from AllRecipies):
For the crust: 1 cup graham cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons white sugar 3 tablespoons melted butter
For the filling: 2 (8 ounce) packages regular cream cheese, softened 1 (8 ounce) package reduced fat cream cheese, softened 1 cup white sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup eggnog 2 eggs 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar and butter. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool. Increase the oven to 425 degrees. In a stand mixer whip the cream cheese for approximately 1 minute until it is combined and smooth. Add in the sugar, flour and eggnog. Blend in eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into cooled crust. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 and bake for 50 minutes, or until center of cake is barely firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and immediately run a knife between the cake and the rim to loosen. Let the cake cool completely before removing the rim.