Naturally Colored Happy Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake

This Halloween, add a festive decoration to the top of your dessert.

Your party guests will enjoy this Naturally Colored Happy Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake for dessert. It tastes as great as it looks.

We are hosting a pumpkin carving party this Halloween and my guests are going to love these Naturally Colored Happy Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecakes that I’ll be serving for dessert.

Adding fun designs to cheesecakes is my new thing. You might have seen a few here recently. It started with a Daisy Cheesecake, then I made a Flag, but I have to say that this one for Halloween is by far my favorite.

Not only do I love the jack-o-lantern face, but I made my favorite cheesecake recipe even better by using a fresh vanilla bean instead of extract.

I love baking with fresh vanilla beans, but they are rather expensive compared to extract, so I don’t use them as often as I’d like.

Earlier this year when I made my Naturally Colored Conversation Heart Cheesecakes I discovered that carrot puree makes the perfect orange color. The puree adds a nice sweet flavor but does not taste at all like carrots. I used it again to make some Cheesecake Carrots and knew it would work great here, as well.

To create a rich dark brown color, I simply used cocoa powder as my natural color source.

Once baked the design was as vibrantly colored as if I had used food coloring.

Our party is in three weeks, and being this turned out exactly as I had planned, I decided to save it and serve it that night. I wrapped it up and put it in the freezer. However, the whole point of making this vanilla bean cheesecake was so I could taste it, and I didn’t want to just cut a slice out of the cake, so before I decorated it, I poured some of the batter into a small ramekin and baked a mini cheesecake.

When the smell of cheesecake filled my kitchen, I knew I was in for a treat. It was crazy hard waiting for my mini tester cake to cool enough to taste it, so I popped it in the freezer to speed up the process.

When I finally got to take my first bite, I got a bit weak in the knees. It’s amazing what a skinny long black bean can do.

Happy Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (18 squares)
• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 of a stick), melted
• 24 ounces (3 blocks) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scrape out the seeds to use in filling (you can also use 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract)
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream or milk
• 1 tablespoon carrot puree (I used Beachnut Just Carrot baby food. It’s just carrot puree.)

Supplies:

9-inch springform pan or PushPan*

roasting pan or round pan that is large enough to hold the springform pan*For years I’ve baked my cheesecakes in springform pans in a water bath. I always line my springform pan with a few layers of tin foil, but the water always seems to leak into the cheesecake.

I just discovered the PushPan by Kuhn Rikon. The outer ring does not clip opened and closed, instead the bottom plate pushes in and out of the ring. It has a silicone gasket around the bottom which not only holds it in place, but miraculously keeps the water out. Another great feature it the plate is flat, no lip means its easier to remove the cheesecake. The pan does still get water under the bottom lip, but it doesn’t leak into the cake at all. I do like to wrap it in one layer of tin foil, just so that when I lift the pan out of the water and remove the foil, I don’t spill water all over my counter.

Instructions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

• Combine graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter, stirring until it looks like sand. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes until fragrant. Allow to cool completely.

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 now with enough hot water so that it will come 1/2 way up the sides of your springform pan. 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.

• Beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth for about 1 minute.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater then beat for another 30 seconds and scrape again.
• Add the sugar and beat until creamy.
• Scrape the bowl well again.
• Add the sour cream and vanilla bean seeds and beat until combined.
• Scrape one final time, making sure all the lumps are gone.
• Lightly whisk the eggs with a fork just to break them up.
• With the mixer running, slowly stream in the eggs just until they are incorporated.
• Do not overmix the batter once the eggs are added or you will incorporate too many air bubbles.

• Scoop out 2 tablespoons of batter and stir in the cocoa powder and whipping cream.
• Then spoon out 3 tablespoons of batter and stir in the carrot puree.
  • You can simply color the filling with orange food coloring if you prefer.
• Pour the remaining filling over the baked crust and pour the colored filling into small zip-top bags or squeeze bottles.
  • I used zip-top bags this time, but I have to say I prefer the control I have when using a squeeze bottle.

• Pipe a pumpkin design onto the cheesecake.
  • These pumpkins are one of the few things I can draw freehand without looking at something. I’ve been drawing them for years.
  • I modeled them after some stickers I purchased years ago.

• Fill in the design using the orange-colored cheesecake.

• Bake in a water bath.
  • I used a leak-proof (mostly leak-proof, anyway) Push-Pan.
  • If you use a springform pan, you will need to wrap it in several layers of heavy-duty tin foil.
  • Or you can use an Easy Bath Cheesecake Wrapper. It’s amazing!  Check out my Classic Cheesecake Recipe post for details.
• Set the pan in the oven in a water bath.
• Bake for 50 minutes. The center will still look giggly, but not wet.
• Turn the oven off and crack open the oven door.
• Allow cheesecake to sit in a water bath as the oven cools down for 1 hour.
• Then remove cheesecake from the water bath and allow it to cool at room temperature for an hour.
• Refrigerate for at least four hours.
• When you place the cheesecake in the refrigerator, I recommend draping a piece of paper towel over the pan and wrapping it in foil or plastic wrap. This will keep condensation from forming on the cheesecake.

Before serving remove from refrigerator and un-mold from springform pan or PushPan.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to a month.

I wrapped my pan, froze the cake, removed the cake, wrapped it well in plastic wrap, and popped it back in the freezer. Oh, and once it’s frozen, you can get it off the metal ring, so you can bake another cheesecake. I think I’m going to make a few more for our party, so my guests don’t have to fight over it.

Items used to create this project are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)
I actually used zip-top bags to pipe on my colored cheesecake filling, but squeeze bottles work great too.

Printable Recipe

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Happy Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Oven Rest

1 hr

Total Time

2 hrs 30 mins

 

Decorate a delicious cheesecake with a smiling Jack-O-Lantern using naturally-colored cheesecake batter.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake, cookies and cream cheesecake, halloween recipe

Servings: 12

Calories: 364 kcal

Author: Beth

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (from about 18 squares)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 24 ounces 3 blocks cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 cup sour cream (room temperature)
• 1 vanilla bean split and scrape out the seeds to use in filling (you can also use 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract)
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream or milk
• 1 tablespoon carrot puree or pure carrot baby food

Instructions

1. Set your cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs out at room temperature for a minimum of 1 hour before making your cheesecake batter.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Crust:

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter, stirring until it looks like sand.
2. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan.
3. Bake for 10 minutes until fragrant. Allow to cool completely.

Cheesecake Filling

1. Beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth for about 1 minute.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater then beat for another 30 seconds and scrape again.
3. Add the sugar and beat until creamy.
4. Scrape the bowl well again.
5. Add the sour cream and vanilla bean seeds and beat until combined.
6. Scrape one final time, making sure all the lumps are gone.
7. Lightly whisk the eggs with a fork just to break them up.
8. With the mixer running, slowly stream in the eggs just until they are incorporated.
9. Do not overmix.
10. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of batter and stir in the cocoa powder and whipping cream (or milk).
11. Then spoon out 3 tablespoons of batter and stir in the carrot puree.
12. Pour the remaining filling over the baked crust and pour the colored filling into small zip-top bags or squeeze bottles.
13. Pipe a pumpkin design using the chocolate cheesecake filling onto the top of the cheesecake.
14. Fill in the design using the orange colored cheesecake.
15. Bake in a water bath for 50 minutes.
16. Turn off the oven and crack open the oven door about 1 inch.
17. Allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven as it cools down for 1 hour.
18. Then remove the cheesecake from the water bath and allow it to cool at room temperature for an hour.
19. Refrigerate for at least four hours before removing from the pan and serving.

Recipe Notes

Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to a month.

If you are looking for more festive Halloween food ideas, be sure to check out my Halloween category page. You’ll find over 100 fun and festive recipes for the holiday.

More Decorated Cheesecakes 

from Hungry Happenings

Daisy Cheesecake

Flag Cheesecake

Naturally Colored Conversation Heart Cheesecakes

Orange Cheesecake Carrots

Bite Size Cheesecake Pumpkins

Cheesecake Leaves and Pumpkins

Howlin’ at the Moon No-Bake Cheesecake

Cheesecake Easter Eggs

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