Christmas Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 325º and grease an 8" or 9" springform pan with cooking spray. Make cheesecake filling: In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then sour cream, orange zest, flour, vanilla, and salt.

Make crust: In a large bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Press mixture into prepared pan.

Pour filling over crust. Wrap bottom of pan in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. (If you want to bake the cheesecake in a water bath, wrap bottom of pan and place in a deep baking pan. Pour in enough boiling water to come up halfway in the baking pan.) Bake until center of cheesecake only slightly jiggles, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn off heat, prop open oven door, and let cheesecake cool in oven, 1 hour, then remove aluminum foil and refrigerate cheesecake in pan until firm, at least 5 hours and up to overnight.

Meanwhile, make the sugared cranberries: In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, combine water, orange juice, and 1/2 cup sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved, 3-4 minutes. Add in cranberries and toss until fully coated. Transfer onto parchment paper and let cool, about 15 minutes. When cool, toss in remaining sugar and top cheesecake. Serve.