This cheesecake turned out great! The changes I made was to add one cup of eggnog & an extra tablespoon of rum. I also added 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and nutmeg to the crust. I wrapped the bottom of the springform pan with foil and baked it in a water-filled cookie pan. I baked it for the time specified and it came out perfect with no cracks. I followed what someone else said and I beat 1 cup whipping cream with 3 T powdered sugar and then I added 1 tsp. rum extract & 1 tsp. cinnamon. It really added to the eggnog flavor. Also, I microwaved the cream cheese and eggnog just until it was at room temp. and I mixed everything with my kitchenaid stand mixer and this worked very well. I'll definitely be making this every year for the holidays!
This cheesecake is FANTASTIC. I used helpful suggestions from the other reviewers to make modifications, and here's my advice:
1. I scaled the recipe down to 11 servings so it used 2 pkgs of cream cheese. I used one pkg of full-fat cream cheese and one pkg of light, and it still tasted wonderfully rich.
3. I added about 3/4 to 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of nutmeg to the batter, subbed 3/4 tbsp of vanilla extract for the rum (I didn't have any rum on hand), and used 1 cup eggnog.
4. MAKE THIS CHEESECAKE THE DAY BEFORE YOU NEED IT (I can't stress that enough; this recipe improves with time, and the flavor is much better the second day).
5. If you're using a store-bought graham cracker crust, there will be more batter than you need to fill the crust, so look up a "crustless cheesecake" recipe and use those directions for baking the excess batter.
6. Use a water bath (I just filled a cake pan with water and put it on the bottom rack of the oven, below the middle rack where the cheesecake was).
7. When it's finished cooking, turn off the heat, open the oven door a bit, and let it cool in there for a couple hours before refrigerating.
This recipe is fantastic - it's definitely going to be an Xmas staple from now on!
Excellent cheesecake! A great way to use leftover eggnog. I didn't have any rum, so I used vanilla extract instead - it still tasted as if alcohol had been added to it (DELICIOUS!). Since I didn't have a food processor big enough to fit the entire recipe, I used an electric beater. I made sure to beat the cream cheese mixture until very fluffy. It was so fluffy that I thought it would colapse after removing from the oven. To my surprise, it didn't. And, to give it a delicate flavor, I used crushed lady fingers in place of graham crakers. The final result was of a very light and creamy filling over a delicious crust. Perfect for making mini-sized cheesecakes (the kind that you can eat in 2 to 3 bites); a great addition to the finger-food menu of an elegant party.
This may be the best cheesecake I've ever made. I brought this to our work holiday party and EVERYONE raved about it. Not too sweet, great eggnog flavor. I did a gingersnap crust instead of graham cracker and that complemented the nutmeg and eggnog beautifully and substituted vanilla extract for the rum. It was very easy to make and the biggest hit I've had at a potluck since I made chocolate bread pudding 4 years ago. Definitely a keeper for holiday desserts.
This is the most delicious cheesecake I've ever had. I've made dozens of them, and people have started hiring me to bake them for their Christmas parties this year. It always comes out perfectly, and is always a hit. I use my KitchenAid mixer and let it mix for a good, long while until everything is smooth and creamy. This recipe is to die for!
I made these cheesecake THREE times during December--that's how good it is. Here are my modifications: (1) use gingersnaps for the crust. Every time I made it someone raved about the crust. (2) Use 1 c. of eggnog not 3/4 c. Someone else recommended this and it works. Use more nutmeg than a pinch. (3) Use spiced rum if you have it. And finally when the recipe says "remove from oven and immediately loosen sides " do it. The first time I did not and it cracked heavily as it cooled. I spread whipped cream over the top and no one ever knew. But the next time I ran a knife around the sides and it didn't crack at all. Best if you can let it sit overnight. Easy and absolutely great for holiday desserts.
This cheesecake had a great consistancy - not too heavy yet satisfying in the way only cheesecake can be. I used the Pecan Caramel sauce from Eggnog Cheesecake I at this site - it has dark rum in it and was perfect. I also added some spices ( 1/4 tsp each of ginger nutmeg and cinnamon) to the crust. I don't have a food processor I just mixed the heck out of it with my stand mixer.
SO good! The perfect elegant, yet not too challenging holiday dessert. I had plenty of eggnog leftover from making my yearly eggnog Christmas cookies and wanted to make a cheesecake for a family Christmas celebration, so it made perfect sense.
I followed several different suggestions and made some minor adjustments to the original recipe. I will admit, that although I've made enough cheesecakes that I would say I'm a fairly experienced cheesecake baker I have never prepared my batter in a food processor so I was a little nervous but since I already had the processor out to make my crust I thought I'd give it a go, and it worked out great, plus I didn't dirty up my mixer!
The changes I made are as follows:
- for the crust I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- I upped the eggnog to 1 cup in the batter
- replaced the rum with 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- added 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg to batter
Also, unlike many of the users I did not use a waterbath, nor have I ever. The consistency was great and no cracks!
When I set out to find an unusual holiday cheesecake recipe, I stumbled upon this one, which seemed like one of the easiest. Not only was it relatively easy, it was one of the smoothest, richest cheesecakes I've ever tasted. The eggnog flavor lends itself very well to this classic dessert. In addition to an eggnog cheesecake, I used the basic recipe but substituted pure almond flavor for the rum and then swirled it with freshly grated ginger before baking. Both were superlative. Thanks for the great recipe.
I was really excited to try and make this and read all the reviews/suggestions before I made it. Next time I will bake it a little longer and I won t use rum extract but vanilla extract and cinnamon.
