Easy Rainbow Unicorn Cheese Cake

I thought of several names for this cake: psychedelic cheese cake, magical cheese cake, multi-colored cheese cake ... and I still don't know if I chose the right one! There is something kinda cute and sweet about unicorns though so this is what I stuck with.

I just recently celebrated my 25th birthday and for my b-day I made myself a cheese cake. I used to love cheese cake as a kid so I thought it would be a fitting and fun dessert.

This is the first time ever that I've made cheese cake so I was a little nervous about what would happen. Thankfully I found a no fail recipe and my cake came out perfectly!

(save for a bit that broke off when I was trying to take the cake off the wax paper. Perhaps I pressed the crumbs in too firmly)

Some tips for the perfect cheese cake:

after you are done baking, turn off the oven and leave the cheese cake to cool in the oven with the door partially opened. This will allow the cheese cake to cool slower which will prevent cracks
adding in cornstarch is not necessary but will act as insurance to keep from cracking. It should not change the taste or texture of the cake
make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature for easy mixing
make a water bath. I did not do it for this recipe as the recipe I adapted from did not require it but if you want your

Colors before adding to the crust

Cake before going in the oven. Look at all the colors!

And after!

Rainbow Unicorn Cheese Cake

Adapted from here
Serves 8

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Filling
2 cups (2 packages) of cream cheese at room temperature
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lavender extract*
1 tbsp cornstarch
Food coloring (I used pink, purple, orange, and green)

*If you do not have lavender or do not like floral tasting things you can substitute this for more vanilla or another extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9 inch spring form pan by placing a sheet of wax paper on the bottom and buttering the bottom and the sides
Make the crust by stirring together all of the crust ingredients, mixing until thoroughly combined.
Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan, making a thicker layer on the bottom than on the sides.
For the filling: mix together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs, lavender, cornstarch, and vanilla then mix until smooth. To avoid beating too much air into the batter, use a mixer set at low-medium speed. To avoid lumps, make sure the cream cheese is softened, and/or at room temperature.
Divide your filling equally into four bowls (or more or less depending on how many colors you want) and then add a few drops of your desired food coloring into each. Mix each bowl well and add more color as needed
To get the marbles effect. Take a big scoop of each colored filling one at a time and place onto your crust as large balls. Alternate each color one at a time until you have covered the crust and then continue the process by layering it over. When you have used all of your filling, take the back of one of your spoons and make a big swirl through all of your filling. You can watch this video for a visual explanation start at 4 minutes
If desired, set your pan onto a baking sheet to make it easier to transport in and out of the oven, and also protects the bottom of the crust from any potential scorching.
Place the cheesecake in the oven. Bake it for 20 minutes, then make a crust shield with strips of aluminum foil around the outside of the pan. Bake for an additional 10 minutes (for a total of about 30 minutes).
Turn off the oven and open the oven door slightly, let the cheese cake cool in the oven for at least 20 minutes
Remove the cheese cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely before covering it in plastic wrap and placing it in the fridge
When ready to serve, remove cake from pan and slice. Serve with whipped cream if desired