The inspiration came from all of the holiday parties we’ve been attending.  My husband’s been hitting the “nog” pretty hard since the day after Thanksgiving.  So, when requested to make an eggnog custard for Christmas and a cheesecake by my father-in-law, I decided to put the two together!  Oh, and what a perfect pair they are!

I love the looks of this cheesecake so much, I think it will become a new decadent holiday tradition for our family!  If you’d like to add it to your repertoire for the holidays here is the recipe: (note: the baking time may vary a bit based on your oven)

Eggnog Cheesecake

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup gingersnaps

1/2 cup sesame cookies (if you have them, if not just use the gingersnaps)

2 Tbs of white granulated sugar

3 Tbs of unsalted butter

Step 1:  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Step 2:  In a food processor or medium bowl combine gingersnaps (and sesame cookies), granulated sugar, and melted butter. Process until all the cookies are completely crushed into crumbs.  Press into the bottom of a 9″ spring form pan.  K.I.S.S. Tip:  Use a juice glass to press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan evenly.

Step 3:  Bake for 10 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Cheesecake Ingredients:

3 (8oz) packages of cream cheese

1 cup white granulated sugar

3 Tbs all-purpose flour

3/4 fluid cup eggnog

2 large eggs

1 Tbs spiced rum

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp salt

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Step 2:  In a food processor combine softened cream cheese, sugar, flour and spices; process until completely smooth

Step 3:  Blend in eggnog, eggs, rum and vanilla until combined

Step 4:  Pour batter onto the crust and bake for 10 minutes.

Step 5: Turn oven down to 250 degrees, turn the spring form pan 180 degrees and bake for 25 minutes

Step 6: Turn another 180 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes

Step 7: Cool on a wire rack and use a pairing knife to loosen the edge of the cake while cooling. Let cake cool before removing the rim

Serves approximately 16 slices- enjoy with the whole family!

Happy Holidays from Treet!

Click here to view the embedded video.

So if you have been surfing the pages of TreetShop.com recently you may have noticed something snazzy and new on our homepage. We’ve started a new YouTube series entitled K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple & Sweet) from Treet, starring the Chief Sweetness Officer (yours truly). The plan is each month I’ll provide easy tips on baking challenges tha will give the home-baker an edge in the kitchen.

The inspiration for this idea came from my reason for attending pastry school- I wanted to learn how to fix things. That’s exactly what the Pastry and Baking Arts program at I.C.E taught me! It also taught me that I will be paying off student loans for the rest of my life…the philanthropic side of me said, “hey, why not share some of the super helpful tips you learned in school with others so they can save their pennies for more fun KitchenAid attachments”. Thus, my K.I.S.S from Treet idea started.

So, the first K.I.S.S. tip is a “Solution for Cold Buttercream”. I hope all of you Swiss Buttercream lovers out there find it useful! I’d love feedback and ideas for the next segment!

Giant Cupcake Cake

For some reason when I think of giant cupcakes I think of the Smurfs!  Remember the Smurfs?  I think Smurfette would smurfing love to live in a giant cupcake like this one! 

 This Mother of All Cupcakes will be the main attraction for a surprise party this weekend and will be adorned with lots o’ mini cupcakes around it! Sounds like a smurfing good time!