By now, you probably know that I have the biggest sweet tooth! ???? And another fun fact is that one of my favourite desserts is cheesecake! I’ve tried countless cheesecake recipes, everything from these delicious vegan lemon cheesecake bars to my always-a-huge-hit red velvet cheesecake. Needless to say, you really can’t go wrong with a smooth, velvety, sweet cheesecake! And this chocolate swirl cheesecake was no exception!
This past weekend was my Grandma’s 94th birthday, so we all got to celebrate at our place! And since everyone in my family knows that I’m the resident birthday-cake-baker, Grandma didn’t waste any time requesting a chocolate and caramel cheesecake. I was delighted, as that flavour combo sounded delicious!
After a little Pinterest and Google searching, I came across this chocolate swirl cheesecake on the Kraft website. It looked pretty easy to make with simple ingredients and not too much prep work, so it fit the bill! I’ve been pretty swamped these last few weeks working as a full-time entrepreneur, so I didn’t have much time to be experimenting with my own cheesecake recipe. But that’s okay because this one was a big hit at Grandma’s birthday! ????
Even though I didn’t have time to create the recipe from scratch, I do always like to experiment to try and make recipes my own! While none of the main ingredients changed, I did generously drizzle dulce de leche over the cheesecake and crushed Oreos on top! Such a fun way to add that extra little decoration to the cake, and it turned out great!
Another reason why I love cheesecakes is that they keep well in the fridge, and I find taste even better a day or so after baking them! I actually made the cheesecake on Friday, and then decorated it on Sunday and served it Sunday evening! Below are a few of my other cheesecake baking and decorating tips! ????
My Top Cheesecake Tips:
- Make it 1-2 days ahead of time – Leave your cake in its springform pan, and just cover it with aluminum foil and pop it in the fridge!
- Don’t make the crust too thick – There’s a bit of a fine balance here, but for the most part, follow the recipe. I’ve tried to double the crust and it was a little too much and pretty hard to cut!
- Drizzle drizzle drizzle – One of my favourite cheesecake decorations is to drizzle chocolate or caramel all over it! You can do a ganache glaze across the whole top of the cheesecake and let it drip down the sides (which is delicious!) or just warm up some caramel and drizzle it over like I did for this one!
- Add fresh berries – While I didn’t include any this time around, fresh blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries on top of any kind of cheesecake are the perfect addition! Especially in the summertime, it makes the dessert lighter and fresher, and dare I even say “healthy-ish”? ????
There you have it! A sweet-tooth-satisfying chocolate swirl cheesecake for your next party, with a few extra decorating tips to make it your own! And if you’re looking for more tips on how to decorate your next cake – check out my fool-proof cake decorating tips!
Happy Baking! Enjoy your chocolate swirl cheesecake! Tell me, do you love cheesecake like I do? What’s your favourite kind? Let me know in the comments below! ????
XO
Danielle
