Eggnog Cheesecake

This was the second dessert I made for a recent dinner party. This photo (not mine) caught my eye in a Sunset magazine one year ago. Despite the attractive photo, I never made the recipe because I was missing a key ingredient: a springform pan. I managed to pick one up eventually but I never got around to making this recipe. Recently, I rediscovered the saved magazine on a shelf and decided to make it.

The original Sunset recipe is now at My Recipes and can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar, divided (3/4 for cake; 1/4 for whipped cream)
  
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg, divided
• 1 cup whipping cream

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Break up graham cracker and place them in food processor and process until the crackers are crumbs
• Pour crumbs into a bowl, add butter, and stir to mix
• Pour buttered crumbs into springform pan and press mixture evenly over bottom and up side of pan
• In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth
• Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down inside of bowl as needed
• Beat in flour, brandy, and 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg just until incorporated
• Pour into crumb-lined pan and bake 40 to 50 minutes
• Put cheesecake on a rack and let cool completely. Cover and chill until cold, at least 3 hours
• Remove pan rim
• In a small bowl, whisk together cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form (10 minutes)
• Dollop whipped cream onto cheesecake and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tsp. nutmeg.