My son, who turned 10 yesterday, requested a cheesecake birthday cake. I knew exactly the recipe I wanted to try. Being that I have a thing for completely artificial coloring in my desserts (and pancakes), I figured a Rainbow Cheesecake would go over well.
Damn, this cheesecake was cracking good. Really.
But, it definitely cracked itself up.
I followed the instructions in this recipe, but to no avail. To tell you the truth, I’ve tried water baths and all other manners of crack reduction techniques. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don’t.
This time it didn’t work.
That’s alright because whipped cream is my friend.
Rainbow Cheesecake
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham crackers, crushed
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbs vanilla
1/4 cup flour
Food coloring gels. I used blue, pink, green, orange and purple
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees℉ (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Add sour cream, vanilla and flour and blend until smooth.*
4. Divide the batter into 5 bowls and dye with your choice of food coloring gels. Drop tablespoons of the colored batter into the crust alternating colors.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. (Really???? That cracks me up. Obviously, it didn’t work in my little ole oven. It was worth a try, though.)
5. Chill in refrigerator until serving.
Recipe slightly adapted from Carrie’s Cooking And Recipes (Crack up was totally my addition.)
Maybe my singing cracked the cheesecake up. Maybe it was the songs.
This song always cracks me up. I especially love watching it sung on the HBO series.
Flight Of The Conchords-Business Time
I always laugh when I hear this song. I hate everything to do with flying. You might remember my little rant.
The Wiyos-Airline Baggage Handlers Suck
There are so many funny songs out there, but I have to go grocery shopping so will stop here.
John Hadfield-Robot Monkey Head
Cheers!
*note: recipe was updated to include the rainbow coloring instructions.
Whipped cream is your friend! And that cheesecake is positively crazy.
I always wanted my Mom to make me her cheesecake for my birthday when I was little too. Give my little buddy a big hug and kiss for his b-day! Anyway, I too am in pursuit of the perfect, uncracked cheese cake and I’ve accomplished it twice in the past year. First, I make sure all the ingredients are room temperature before I start beating them. I do not leave the cake in the overn after it is done, but carefully remove it and let it cool completely before I place it in the fridge. I also find that it cracks more quickly if I over cook it (which is why I would never leave it in the oven after it was done!)
C loved the gifts. You are so organized! The pkg arrived Saturday.
Thank you for the tips. I have tried the room temp thing and also beating for 20 minutes (which probably achieves the same thing as the room temp ingredients). Both never produced such a cracked cake. I could have lowered another cake into the crack in that rainbow cheesecake! I am always worried about undercooking a cheesecake. For me, there is a narrow window between a a cake with a runny center, a perfectly creamy cake and one with a huge fault line!
At least my huge fault line etched cheesecake was creamy and really delicious. In the end, that is much of the battle. The whipped cream doesn’t hurt.
My kids would go nuts over that very cool looking cheesecake! I liked your whipped cream idea to cover the cracks. It also makes it look extra good!
I like to do abit of both, and like you sometimes I get a crack but it is never more then a surface one. I cook at 325 for an hour then open the over and leave it sit for an hour and then onto the stove for another hour at least or until cool enough for the fridge. I also don’t use as many eggs. I have a pretty good and creamy cake. I use 2.5 8 oz packages of cream cheese, then one egg, one tbs of vanilla, and one cup of sugar (or splenda, which makes it more diabetic friendly) Then if I want a flavor I add it into this basic recipe. I always use the vanilla. I think it makes the cheesecake have a better flavor and not be as flat. I have never water bathed a cheesecake; I think it is too much work. I usually bake after dinner so there is less kitchen traffic and I can leave my oven open after the first hour. I have tried just taking it out and my perfect cheesecake cracked really badly… Anyways perhaps this helps…. I also go for as long as it tastes good it doesn’t have to be pretty motto in my house.
Hi Ivy. Loved your notes. I am definitely going to pass your diabetic friendly tips on to my friends.
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