I love to make cheesecake, from scratch.  I also love the flavor of Egg Nog- with or without liquer added! It appears tricky, but it is so easy to do! And looks impressive at the end.  You can create so many combinations, if you just have the basic recipe; chocolate crust with raspberry swirl, Ginger Snap with pumpkin…it is endless. What makes this recipe work, is the cornstarch. It needs some help binding and absorbing the liquid.  If you are out of cornstarch, flour will work in its place.

Egg nog is my favorite holiday flavor, sometimes I  make it without the alcohol addition and it works fine.  I think Rumchatta would be great in this recipe. If you don’t know about Rumchatta, it’s a buttery rich light Rum, along the lines of Bailey’s or Kahlua.  A dear friend brought Rumchatta into my life a few Holiday season’s back!

This recipe does need to bake for over an hour, so I make it the day before and garnish right before serving. This would be a great New Years treat!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 80 minutes
Cool time: 30 minutes

Crust Ingredients:
30 Ginger Snaps
5 Tbsp butter melted

Cheesecake Ingredients:
24 ounces of cream cheese
3/4 Cup sugar
5 tsp cornstarch (or flour)
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 Cup Egg Nog
2 Tbsp Vanilla liqueur or Light Rum- (optional, omit completely if desired)

NOTE:  ALL of your ingredients need to be at room temperature.  To accomplish this quickly; place the unwrapped cream cheese on a plate and microwave for 1 minute at power level 5 or 50% power.  Place eggs in warm water for several minutes.  It makes a huge difference with the creaminess of your cheesecake.

Special Equipment: You really do need to use a spring form pan if you want to slice it like the store-bought kind.  If you want to serve it like a pie..a pie plate or preformed graham crust from the baking isle will work just fine!

Crust:

1. Prepare pan with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. In a mixing bowl, crush cookies and combine with melted butter.
4. Pack crumbs down into bottom and up sides of pan.  I use a drinking glass to create an even surface. The crumbs will not go all the way up the sides, just partially.
5. Bake for 5-8 minutes until set. Let cool slightly while you mix  filling

Filling:

1. In a mixing bowl, on low speed, cream together cream cheese, starch, and sugar until smooth, use the paddle attachment for this batter.
2.  Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula.  Add eggs 1 at a time.  When first egg is incorporated, add next egg..DO NOT OVER MIX here!
3.  Scrape down sides and paddle;then add eggnog, vanilla, nutmeg and liqueur.
4. Once mixed, pour into crust.
5. If using a spring form pan, place on a baking sheet, as the pan may leak a small amount of liquid during baking.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 350
7. Lower over to 200 and bake for 60 minutes
8. Remove cheesecake from oven, run a butter knife around the sides. Cool on counter top for 30 minutes, store in fridge.
9. As your cake cools, it will pull inward. Running a knife around the sides prevents a huge crack from forming in your cheesecake.
10. If it does crack, run a knife under hot water and spread knife over crack until it soothes away. Cover with whipped cream and no one will know!