Eggnog Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp (½ stick) butter, melted
• ½ tsp Amoretti® Gingerbread Extract O.S.
• 1 cup Amoretti® Natural Graham Cracker Cookie Crumbs
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp cinnamon

• 3 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 whole eggs, room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp allspice
• ½ tsp Amoretti® Vanilla Madagascar Bourbon 2X W.S.
• 3 tbsp Amoretti® Eggnog Brandy Compound

• ½ cup crème fraiche
• 2-3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp pomegranate arils, optional

• 9” springform pan

Directions

1. Preheat oven 350°F.
2. Spray a 9” springform pan with nonstick spray, line with a round piece of parchment and lightly spray the parchment.
3. Combine melted butter and Gingerbread Extract.
4. Stir together Graham Cracker Crumbs, sugar, flour and cinnamon.
5. Pour melted butter over crumbs and mix until evenly moistened.
6. Press into the parchment-lined pan and bake 10 minutes. Let cool.

7. Reduce oven to 300°F.
8. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, scraping the bowl several times.
9. Add the sugar and beat again, scraping the bowl.
10. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.
11. Add the cream, salt, allspice, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and Eggnog Brandy Compound. Mix until smooth.
12. Pour into the cooled crust and bake in a water bath 45-55 minutes, until the filling is set.
13. Cool completely at room temperature before chilling at least 4 hours or overnight.

14. Whip crème fraiche and sugar. Spread an even layer over the top of the cheesecake.
15. Chill if not serving immediately.

16. Sprinkle pomegranate arils over cheesecake if desired.
17. Cut cheesecake with a warm, dry knife to insure smooth cuts.

• If using a regular 9" cake pan instead of a springform: place a cardboard round over the chilled cheesecake, invert it and, using a torch, heat the bottom of the cake pan to release the cheesecake. You may have to gently bang the rim of the pan on the table a few times to release it. Once it is removed from the pan, place another cardboard round on the crust and invert the cheesecake. You can freeze the cheesecake at this point if you'd like.