Easter Cheesecake

Because what's Easter dinner without dessert?  Easter cheesecake is a simple cheesecake recipe that gets into the holiday spirit by adding lots of color.  Why should the eggs have all the fun?  If you have kids this is a great baking project to include them in.

To begin we'll use this basic cheesecake recipe:

 

1 Oreo pie crust

8oz of cream cheese, softened

14oz of sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

food coloring

Preheat oven to 350F.  Beat cheese until fluffy.  It will look something like this:

 

(I make a double batch, so don't worry if yours doesn't look like the amount of mine)

Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk until smooth (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom well to make sure you get all the cream cheese mixed in).  Add the egg and vanilla.

 Take 4 small bowls and divide the mix into 5 equal parts.

 Place 20 drops of food coloring in the four bowls, one color per bowl.  Leave the mixing bowl plain.  Take your pie crust and remove the plastic protector shield thing.  Set this piece aside for later.  After the cheesecake has cooked and cooled, you can flip it over to make a lid, re-crimping the metal pan will secure it in place.

 Spoon in enough of each color to fill the bottom, then start layering the colors in swirls.

(This is a double batch, if you're making a single batch there's only one pie crust)

 Here they are half filled.  My nephew loves to help with this part : )

 And there they are finished.  I place my pans on a cookie sheet as it makes it a bit easier for me to get them in and out of the oven.  Cook at 350F for 35 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.  Let them cool and place the lids on the pans, making sure to crimp them into place.  (Yay for the lids, now the cheesecake is stack-able!) Refrigerate until chilled, and enjoy!