Rainbow Cheesecake

This one is for the kids (and the kid in each of us)! How cool is it to make a RAINBOW CHEESECAKE! Impress your guests, rainbow swirl it.

Rainbow Cheesecake

Crust

  • 2 Cups graham crackers, crushed
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 Pinch Salt

Cake

  • 2 Pounds Cream cheese, room temp
  • 1 1/3 Cups Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1 Cup Sour Cream
  • 1 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 1 Pinch Salt
  • 1 Container Food colors (blue, yellow, green, red)

Directions

  1. Before you get started with the crust, make sure your springform pan is water tight. I do this by carefully wrapping a few layers of foil on the outside of the pan, working in both directions so water cannot get into the pan. Be careful not to rip the foil or water will get into your cake and ruin it!
  2. To make the crust, grind the graham crackers in a food processor until very fine. Then mix crushed crackers, salt, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Then mix in butter with your clean fingers.
  3. Press all but a few tablespoons of the graham cracker mixture into the prepared springform pan. (Save a bit of the crust mixture in case there are holes later) Press it down firmly in the pan. I like to use a measuring cup for this which makes it easy to get around the edges. You should have an even, flat crust.
  4. Bake the crust in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes on a low rack. Remove from the oven and cool completely before continuing. Turn oven temp down to 325.
  5. To make filling, cut cream cheese into pieces and add to a mixing bowl. Whip until smooth, maybe 4 minutes. Then add sugar and continue to beat until smooth again, another 4-5 minutes. Next, add salt, vanilla, and one egg at a time, beating briefly between each egg. Finally, beat in the sour cream and heavy cream.
  6. Once the mixture is well combined and very smooth, divide it into 6 dishes. Add food coloring to each dish to get the desired colors.
  7. Pour colored mixtures into prepared dish with cooled crust. Start with red and pour it right in the center. Continue to build the rainbow by pouring the fillings directly in the center. This will create layers so that each slice has some of each color.
  8. Place cheesecake into a baking dish a fill with boiling water about 1 inch up the side of the springform pan (pray that your dish is waterproof).
  9. Bake at 325 degrees in the water bath for one hour and 10 minutes. If you're baking at high altitude like me, it will be more like one hour and 45 minutes--keep an eye on it and watch for browning.
  10. Turn off the oven, crack the door to the oven, and let the cake cool in the oven for one hour. The slow cooling will help it not crack.
  11. Then loosely wrap the dish in foil so the foil isn't touching the top of the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  12. When ready to remove cake, run a clean narrow knife around the edge of the dish, remove the foil, unlock the spring, and carefully lift off the outer ring.
  13. Serve either alone or with a cherry/raspberry sauce. It's so rich and creamy that it really doesn't need a topping.

This recipe came from a great blog called Taste For Adventure. LOVE the pictures they use!