The holidays are here and that means only one thing, especially to my fellow Southerners, and that it is Eggnog season, baby! Nothing says sweet, creamy, and 100% unhealthy, but mega deliciousness, like a nice glass of eggnog to round out a meal. For some reason unbeknownst to myself, some people have a serious affliction to flavor and actually dislike eggnog, though. Thankfully, there is a simple solution to combine the best of two dessert worlds, eggnog and cheesecake, which no one cany deny! Get those shutdown, work-from-home cozy/stretchy pants out people because today we are making a No Bake Eggnog Cheesecake so simple even your kids could pull it off! It's a typical rich and creamy cheesecake with just the slightest hint of eggnog so not to put anyone off, but also satisfy everyone's sweet tooth at the end of the day....Let's Get Cooking!
The first step to any great cheesecake recipe is to prepare the crust. This one is quite simple so begin by melting some butter in the microwave. While the butter melts, toss about 30 to 36 graham crackers into your blender or food processor and pulse until completely crushed. This should make about 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs. Once the butter has melted, pour that along with some brown sugar onto the graham cracker crumbs and pulse a few times until everything is fully incorporated and mixed well. The butter and sugar will help the crumbs stick together so be sure that all the mixture gets exposed to both "glue" ingredients.
Like any cheesecake, we are going to use a springform pan. For easier cleanup later on, feel free to line your pan with some parchment paper, but it isn't absolutely necessary. Dump the crust mixture into your pan and evenly spread it around the bottom and about 3/4 the way up the sides. There isn't a ton of crust material so aim to create a crust about 1/8th inch thick. Take your time and spread everything before going back over and really packing it down. You may need to add a little extra melted butter if your crust mixture is too dry to stick together on the sides of the springform pan. It doesn't have to perfect, but try and make it as even as possible around the pan. Once you are satisfied with your crust, place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to harden and firm up while we create the cheesecake filling.
Since this is a no bake cheesecake, there is quite a bit of heavy duty mixing to knock out so I highly suggest pulling out your stand mixer for this one. Add the softened cream cheese and sugar to your mixer and beat until smooth and creamy.
Once your cream cheese and sugar has been well blended and creamed, add the eggnog, nutmeg, and cinnamon. You could also add a teaspoon or so of rum extract at this point if you so wish to booze up this bad boy. Otherwise, drop the paddle back down and beat until all the ingredients are fully blended and smooth.
Leave the flavored cream cheese mixture as is and pull out a separate new clean bowl. Pour the heavy cream into the new bowl and get those arms pumping until you whip it until stiff peaks form. Just kidding, this is where I pulled out my hand mixer to do this job for me. Work smarter not harder, right? You could remove the cream cheese mixture from your stand mixer, but you would need to completely clean and dry the mixing bowl to ensure stiff peaks would form from the heavy cream. Any sort of grease or fats on the bowl will result in a headache trying to get the cream to stiffen up and form peaks, so I found it easier to just accomplish this particular step in a separate bowl. Yes, this is one of the few times I will say a little extra dishwashing actually saves a whole ton of trouble so do as you wish, but take note of my warning!
Carefully fold the whipped cream into the eggnog cream cheese mixture. I poured the whip cream back into the mixer bowl and used a spatula to gently mix the two parts together. You don't want to be very rough or the whip cream will lose its air and fluffiness leading to a much too dense cheesecake. It will still taste the same, but the texture will be off and disappointing.
As long as it has been at least half an hour since you put the crust in the fridge, remove it and pour the eggnog cheesecake filling onto the crust. Use a spatula to manipulate the filling and spread it evenly across the crust. After you have smoothed the filling and created the perfect No Bake Eggnog Cheesecake, pop it in the refrigerator and chill for 2 to 3 hours prior to serving.
You can't deny how simple and easy this No Bake Eggnog Cheesecake was to create! No worries about the top cracking during baking, water baths, or any of the other difficult issues a typical cheesecake presents. After your cheesecake has had sufficient time to chill and firm, remove it from the refrigerator and use a knife or offset spatula to separate the outside edge of the cheesecake from the springform pan. Once you have circled the cheesecake, pop open the spring and reveal your masterpiece!
This No Bake Eggnog Cheesecake is surprisingly light and airy compared to its traditional difficult baked sister! You can portion it out into 8 or 16 slices as you wish depending on how many extra holiday calories you are willing to ingest. Additionally, you can whip extra heavy cream or just buy some premade whipped cream to top this tasty cheesecake for garnish. All I can say is this should become a must have holiday dessert and you definitely need to try it soon! Even though not everyone likes eggnog, this cheesecake uses just enough for flavor without heavily overdoing it so anyone can surely enjoy a slice. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think. Do you have any other flavoring ideas we could swap out for eggnog? Be sure to comment below or let me know on social media. As always, get in the kitchen and make something delicious....Just Keep Cooking!
NO BAKE EGGNOG CHEESECAKE
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