Looking for the perfect dessert to bring for Thanksgiving dinner or a deliciously sweet treat to impress an important date? Then a cherry cheesecake is your answer. This simple yet intricately flavorful cheesecake is great for both a big family lunch fest and a romantic dinner, especially with a light sparkling wine.

And no, forget about buying the cherry cheesecake. Why don’t you make one instead? With the right tools and this simple how-to, you’ll be able to put together a scrumptious cherry cheesecake in no time.

For the crust, you will need a cup of graham cracker crumbs, sugar (about three to four tablespoons is enough), and some melted butter. To make the cheesecake, you will need softened cream cheese and about three to four medium-sized eggs (both the eggs and the cream cheese should be at room temperature). You will also need about fifteen ounces of chilled, cherry pie-filling, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Now that you have all the ingredients on hand, you can start by making the crust. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, the melted butter and the sugar, and then force the mixture down into the bottom of a spring-form pan. Pop this in the oven and bake it at about 350 degrees for ten to twelve minutes.

While baking, go right on to making the cake. It’s a good idea to use an electric mixer to blend together the cream cheese, the eggs (remember to drop them in one by one), and then the vanilla and sugar. Once you get a firm consistency, bake it at about 450 degrees for ten minutes. Then, adjust the temperature to about 25 degrees lower and go on baking for another forty minutes.

You can then carefully take the cake off the pan and let the cake cool. Pop it in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least nine to twelve hours). Finally, generously spread the cherry filling over the cake.