Toasted Coconut Eggnog Cheesecake

January 9, 2012 · 3 comments

Every year Southern Living puts out a Christmas cookbook, harboring a medley of recipes ranging from scrumptious desserts, perfectly roasted meats and seasonal cocktails–hardbound and accompanied by mouthwatering photos. My mom buys us each one for Christmas, and they seem to get better and better every year. The cookbooks are sold exclusively at Dilliards and a portion of the proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

I always get inspired to bake around the holidays, so I flipped through my cookbook this year and stopped on this enticing recipe for Toasted Coconut Eggnog Cheesecake. You won’t find this scrumptious flavor in that little place called The Cheesecake Factory.

Here’s the recipe so you can try it:

Begin by baking 1-1/4 cups of sweetened coconut flakes at 350° until toasty brown. It should look like this when finished:

It’s going to smell like heaven, and you’re going to want to eat it all. Just remember to save some for the cheesecake.

Next, break up the 12 vanilla cream sandwich cookies and toss them into a food processor. If you have a small food processor like me, crush about three cookies at a time. Once the cookies are finely crushed, add your melted butter and mix until the crumbs are coated. Add one cup of that delicious toasted coconut and mix well.

Pour the mixture into a 9-inch springform pan and spread the mixture evenly on the bottom and up the sides 1 inch. Bake the crust for 10 minutes at 350° or until it turns golden brown. Remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool. Reduce the oven temp. to 325°.

I made the mistake of not turning my timer’s sound on so mine baked a little longer, but luckily it didn’t burn!

Next, soften your cream cheese in the microwave and beat it with an electric mixer until it’s creamy. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating. Add your eggnog, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and dark rum. Once everything is mixed in, add your eggs and vanilla. Mix well, but don’t overbeat!

Pour the mixture into your crust and fill it to 2-inches below the top of your springform pan, as it will rise.

Bake your cheesecake in the oven at 325° for one hour. Then, remove it and run a knife around the edge.

Now for the bad news…you have to cover your cheesecake and let it cool in the refrigerator for 8 hours. We left it in overnight and cried ourselves to sleep.

Once your cheesecake has cooled, take it out of the refrigerator and carefully remove the sides of the pan. Move your cheesecake onto a serving platter so it’s ready for decorating.

This part is fun! Put a large dollop of Cool Whip, or whatever whipped cream you prefer, into a cake decorator and pipe the whipped cream around the edges of your cheesecake. Top it off with the toasted coconut flakes you saved and a dash of cinnamon.