Celebrate another wonderful year of life with a colorful rainbow Birthday Cheesecake. This naturally gluten-free dessert tastes so amazing that everyone at your party will be happy to indulge in a slice.

Rainbow Birthday Cheesecake

Do you have a month during the year were you celebrate several birthdays? That month is December for our family. My sister, brother-in-law, and niece celebrate their birthdays within a few days of each other right before Christmas.

My sister and her husband celebrated milestone birthdays this year with a big party and I had the pleasure of making the desserts for the event. I created cookies, mousse cups, fudge, and chocolates for the birthday party and wanted the cake to be really special.

My sister is gluten-free so traditional cake was out but they both love cheesecake.

When I found this Happy Birthday Cake silicone mold on amazon I knew it would help me make the perfect dessert for this big birthday celebration.

I wanted the cake to really look festive so I chose to create brightly colored rainbow letters on the cheesecake. I simply colored spoonfuls of cheesecake batter using food coloring then painted the colored cheesecake filling into the letters in the mold.

Once I had all the letters painted I popped the mold in the freezer for 10 minutes to make sure the colors wouldn’t bleed, then I poured in the remaining cheesecake filling and baked my cake in a water bath so I’d have a smooth and creamy cheesecake without any cracks.

If you make one of these cheesecakes for a special birthday you could make the letters any one color you like if you don’t want a rainbow. I think chocolate letters would look really elegant and add a nice flavor to the cheesecake.

Watch this video to see how you can make this Rainbow Birthday Cheesecake yourself…

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Birthday Cheesecake

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

1 hr 25 mins

 

A bright and colorful Happy Birthday Cheesecake makes a festive, naturally gluten free dessert for a birthday celebration.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: birthday cake, birthday cheesecake, decorated cheesecake

Servings: 12 slices

Author: Beth Jackson Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 24 ounces 3 blocks cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
• food coloring

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
2. Beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.
3. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time and beat until creamy.
5. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined.
6. Spoon 2 teaspoons of filling into 6 small bowls and 1 teaspoon of filling into 1 small bowl.
7. Color one bowl of filling purple, one blue, one indigo, one green, one yellow, one orange, and one red.
8. Paint two letters using 6 of the colors and one letter using one of the colors (the bowl with just 1 teaspoon of filling).
9. Use food use only paint brushes to paint the color into the letter cavities in the silicone mold. Fill the cavity completely so you get nice brightly colored letters.
10. Freeze the painted mold for 10 minutes.
11. Remove and pour the remaining cheesecake filling in the mold.
12. Bake your cheesecake in a water bath for 42-48 minutes.
13. The top will still jiggle, but look shiny and set.
14. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack for 1 hour.
15. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours.
16. Remove and peel the mold off the cheesecake.
17. Set on a serving platter or cake stand.
18. The cheesecake will take 2-3 hours to thaw at room temperature or it can be refrigerated overnight.

NOTES:

• Scrape down your mixing bowl often and make sure you mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. You don’t want lumps.
• You will need a water bath to bake your cheesecake. You can either bring a large pot of water to a boil and pour it in the pan after you add the cheesecake, or you can fill your pan with enough hot water so that it will come 1/2 way up the sides of your silicone mold. Place that in the hot oven until ready to bake the cheesecake. I like using a roasting pan with a flat rack inside. When the cheesecake has been baked, I can lift the entire rack out of the pan.
• Each letter takes about 1 teaspoon of cheesecake filling so color enough filling using the colors of your choice.
• Be sure to freeze the mold for 10 minutes so your colorful letters don’t bleed into the plain cheesecake filling.
• Also, be sure to freeze the cheesecake for at least 6 hours so that it firms up enough that you can un-mold it easily.
• I un-molded my cheesecake onto my cake stand and brought it to the party frozen. When we cut into the cake 2 1/2 hours later it was still cold but had thawed.

My sister and her husband enjoyed their special birthday cheesecake at their party. It was a fun night and I was happy to be there to celebrate with them.

If you make one of these cheesecakes and share pictures online be sure to link back to this recipe post and use the hashtag #hungryhappenings.

Check out all my other festively decorated cheesecakes.