Eggnog Cheesecake

We have a rather large family. Any way you slice it, our family is large. And not just because we have 5 children, which makes -OUR- family, quite large. Not to mention that both my husband and I have several siblings. This year, we ended up having 3 Christmas dinners to attend. And for most of them, I ended up cooking. A lot. This is just one of the recipes that really stuck out to me over the Holiday. I had never tasted or even heard of  Eggnog cheesecake, but my mother suggested I try making eggnog fudge. Which I did, and it turned out delicious. But it got me thinking... If I could use eggnog in fudge, and make it so fantastic... Why not experiment with eggnog in some other yummy treats that my family likes. GOOGLE to the rescue! I found a recipe similar to this on allrecipes.com and tweaked it just a little.



What you need:
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup eggnog
2 eggs
1 pinch ground nutmeg -or- Pumpkin Pie Spice

Crust:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a medium bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, spices and butter. Press into a 9 inch pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.



Filling:
Preheat oven to 425
Mix together cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and eggnog; process until smooth. Blend in eggs, and nutmeg.
Pour mixture into cooled crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 250 and bake for 45 minutes, or until center of cake is barely firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

I made my cheesecake the night before our last Christmas dinner,  let it cool completely and then covered it with tin foil and put it in the fridge. That kept the top of the cheesecake from drying out and cracking, and it was picture perfect and ready to cut when lunch was over. If you like cheesecake, and you like eggnog, this is a must have for any family get together. Though you might want to make 2, because it will be gone quickly.