Rainbow Cheesecake

We love this colorful cheesecake for St. Patrick’s Day, an alternative to a birthday cake or any time you need to mix up a little cheer. It does need to chill overnight, so grab these ingredients below and click through for the full instructions from food blogger and mom, Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt.

Rainbow Cheesecake from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoon butter melted

Cheesecake

• 24 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• ½ cup heavy cream
• several drops of red, orange, lemon yellow, leaf green, royal blue, purple gel food color

DIRECTIONS:

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray the sides of the 9.5-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Wrap the sides of the pan with a strip of parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, add in the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Stir until the melted butter coats the crumbs.
3. Firmly press the crust evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while you work on the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the cream cheese and beat with a hand mixer on medium until smooth.
2. Add the granulated sugar in with the cream cheese. Beat on medium until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add in the vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time. Beat in each egg completely before adding the next. Scrape down the bowl after incorporating each egg.
4. Add in the sour cream and heavy cream. Mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat any remaining bits.
5. Divide the batter into 6 bowls. I used an ice cream scoop and scooped it out equally. I got 3 scoops for each bowl.
6. Add each gel paste food color into a bowl with batter in it.
7. Thoroughly mix the gel food color into each bowl of batter.
8. Just before adding the cheesecake mixture, wrap the outside of the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil.
9. Starting with the red, add the mixture into the center of the cheesecake. Then add the orange to the center of the cheesecake. Repeat adding the yellow, green, blue, and purple to the center of the cheesecake.
10. Give the cheesecake a few taps to even out the top and remove any air bubbles.
11. Place the springform pan in a slightly larger baking pan. Fill the outer pan with 1 inch of water. This will keep the cheesecake from cracking.
12. Place in the oven at 325 degrees and let bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until done. To make sure the cheesecake is done, gently give it a wiggle. If it slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it’s done. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer. Turn off the heat and crack the oven door slightly. Let it cool in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until it reaches room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill overnight.
13. Cut and serve!

For full recipe, click here.