Taste of Home's Eggnog Cheesecake

The other eggnog recipe I tried this holiday season was for this delicious cheesecake.  It's called an "eggnog" cheesecake because there is indeed eggnog in it.  However, instead, I would just call it a "holiday cheesecake" because it did not really taste that much like eggnog to me.  It was extremely mild, and mostly just tasted like a WONDERFUL cheesecake.

Looking through the recipe, I could not find a place to increase the amount of eggnog while decreasing another liquid.  So, my only other idea to boost the eggnog flavor was to see if you could buy eggnog concentrate or extract to add instead.  While some products seem to be available online, nothing was readily available for me to test in my home kitchen.  So, I am going to post this recipe as it originally appeared with the disclaimer that, while it was TOTALLY DELICIOUS, it was not very eggnog intense.

Click here for the original recipe from the Taste of Home website.

Eggnog Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 
  FILLING:
• 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup eggnog
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• Dash ground nutmeg

Directions

• Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan.
• In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom of pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 325° for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Gradually stir in the eggnog, extract and nutmeg. Pour filling over crust.
• Place in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.
• Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Yield: 12-16 servings.

Editor's Note: This recipe was tested with commercially prepared eggnog.

I did not use the water bath, and it turned out just fine. I wrote a note on the recipe that says "Water bath makes too moist?" So I'm not sure if I even tried that or not. Ha, ha! I used 3 layers of foil when I wrapped my pan and it still leaked a bit, so be careful there. I also marked my recipe as 50 (+) minutes and "Brown on top some." The flavor must have been subtle because I also wrote 1/4-1/2 tsp eggnog flavoring.