Fourth of July Cheesecake (Red, White and Blue Cheesecake)

Fourth of July Cheesecake (Red, White and Blue Cheesecake)

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword 4th-of-july-cheesecake-recipe, fourth-of-july-cheesecake

Prep Time 20

Chill Time 4

Total Time 4 20

Servings servings

Calories 382kcal

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust:
2 1/2 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
Cheesecake Filling:
3 8 oz blocks plain cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries

Instructions

Line a 9-inch springform pan with a piece of parchment paper. Trim off any excess parchment.
Crust: In a medium mixing bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter. Stir together until it feels like wet sand and can easily stick together when pressed between two fingers.
Press the mixture firmly into the prepared springform pan. Press it into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Set into the freezer for 15 minutes while you make the filling.
Filling: In a large bowl using your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until it is smooth and creamy, around 2 minutes.
Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Spoon the cheesecake mixture into the chilled crust and use the back of a spoon or an offset icing spatula to smooth it out.
Place the cheesecake into the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Once the cheesecake has chilled, carefully remove it from the pan to a serving tray or cake stand. (You may need to run a knife around the edge of the crust to loosen, if it has been in the fridge for longer than 4 hours.)
Fresh Whipped Cream: In a medium bowl using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour the 1 cup whipping cream and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in the bowl. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time, until it reaches stiff peaks.
Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag and pipe stars to cover the entire top of the cheesecake. (If you don’t have a piping bag, you can simply spoon it on and smooth it out evenly.)
Decorate: Arrange the blueberries in an even, single layer to cover one quarter of the top left side of the cheesecake. Use the raspberries to make red stripes across the remaining three quarters of the cheesecake.
Pop the finished cake in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set before slicing and serving. Enjoy!!

Notes

Piping Tip: I used Wilton piping tip 1M open star tip. You could simply frost the top with the whipped cream and skip the piping bag.

Cream Cheese: If you are going to put all the effort into making a cheesecake, make it worth your while and only use full fat cream cheese. It whips up easier and lasts longer than the lighter variety. (Neufchatel)

Whipped Cream: You can use Cool Whip or similar for the topping. Cool Whip is more stable than fresh whipped cream and you could assemble the cheesecake one day in advance.

Fresh Fruit: You could use strawberries in place of raspberries. The surface of the cheesecake is smaller than a cake making a smaller raspberry the better choice.

Graham Crackers: You could use chocolate graham crackers or an alternate cookie for the crust. Shortbread cookies, or a cream filled cookie like Oreos, would also work.

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