How To Decorate A Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a highly versatile dessert that can be made in a wide variety of ways to cater to all sorts of tastes.

With the demands of our everyday, hectic lives, it can be difficult to find the time to whip up your own cheesecake that you can make to your exact tastes.

This could lead you to pick up a plain old naked store bought cheesecake. This doesn’t mean that you can’t decorate cheesecakes with toppings to tantalize your taste buds! 

With this in mind, we are going to be taking a look at the ways that you can decorate a plain cheesecake to truly make it your own without the time and effort of having to bake your own! Let’s get started. 

Canned Pie Filling

Whether it is cherry, apple, or even pumpkin pie, canned pie filling can be a deliciously decadent dessert and a topping to decorate a cheesecake.

As well as using store-bought pie filling, you can also make your own relatively easily. Let’s take a look at how to make some of your own canned cherry pie filling as an example. 

  • Take a saucepan and put it over medium heat.
  • Add in some cherries, lemon juice, and sugar and stir the ingredients until the sugar begins to dissolve. 
  • In a separate bowl or container, mix up some water and cornstarch until the starch begins to dissolve. Once dissolved, combine the water and cornstarch mix with the cherries, lemon juice and sugar mixture and stir it well until it becomes a glaze of sorts. 
  • Continue to stir until the mixture comes to a boil and becomes glossy and thick. 
  • Remove the mixture from the heat source and let it rest until cool, then cover your entire cake with it. 
  • Enjoy your decadent dessert!

Chocolate

There is a reason that chocolate is such a popular treat, and adding it to cheesecake is certainly an option that is sure to appeal to chocolate fiends everywhere.

Whether it is crumbling up your favorite brand of chocolate and sprinkling it over the top of your cheesecake or using chocolate shavings, there are plenty of ways that you can get creative with chocolate to jazz up a cheesecake recipe and create a delicious dessert. 

If you want to make your own chocolate sauce or ganache to drizzle on your cheesecake, you can do so with relative ease via the steps below:

  • Heat butter and heavy cream together either in a saucepan- or in the microwave if you are short on time. When using a saucepan, stir the cream and butter until they both melt. With a microwave, pour the mixture into a heat-safe bowl or mug and cook it for two minutes, making sure to stir it every thirty seconds or so. 
  • You will next need some chocolate chips, which you can then place in a bowl. Pour the cream and butter mixture over the top of the chocolate chips. You can use any kind of chocolate chips for this, such as semi-sweet chocolate or milk chocolate.
  • Once the mixture has sat over the chocolate chips for around thirty seconds, begin to stir it with a whisk. 
  • Continue to stir the chocolate until the chips have melted and dissolved into the mixture, creating a smooth sauce. 
  • You will need to let the mixture sit again so that it can cool down and thicken up, this time for about 15 minutes. 
  • Once done, pour it over your cheesecake.
  • Enjoy your delicious chocolate cheesecake treat!

Strawberries And Whipped Cream

There is nothing more decadently delicious than strawberries and whipped cream, but this sweet treat isn’t to be had at Wimbledon alone!

Strawberries and whipped cream blend beautifully with cheesecake, and it is also easy to make, so let’s take a look at how to do so.

How To Decorate A Cheesecake
  • Though not a necessary step, you might want to consider spreading a thin layer of either curd or jam on the top of your cheesecake. Not only will it give you some extra flavor, but it will also give the strawberries something to stick on to, allowing you to avoid tumbling strawberries as you eat. 
  • Either cut up your strawberries into slices or use them whole, whichever you would prefer. Once done, add strawberries on top of your cheesecake. 
  • Next, you will want to prepare the whipped cream topping. You can do this with either a handheld whisk or an electric beater. Whip up the whipping heavy cream and gradually add in powdered sugar. Keep mixing until the cream is able to form stiff peaks. 
  • Decorate the top of the cheesecake with the whipped cream. If you have a piping bag, this can make this part of the process much easier!
  • Prepare a strawberry sauce by stirring up some water and cornstarch and gradually adding strawberry jelly. Make sure that you continue to stir as you cook the glaze in a saucepan over medium heat. 
  • Keep stirring until the jello until it has fully dissolved into the mixture, which will allow the glaze to thicken. The result should be a thick and delicious strawberry sauce/ strawberry jam.
  • Take the glaze off of the heat and allow it to cool.
  • Once cooled, pour the glaze over the cream and strawberries and enjoy!

Fresh Fruits

For a healthier decorated cheesecake that is quick and easy to obtain, simply grab some of your favorite fresh fruits and add them to the top of your cheesecake before eating.

Some of the most popular fruit cheesecake toppings include fresh strawberries and fresh raspberries.

Caramel

Caramel is another highly popular treat- similar to a chocolate sauce- that can add a bit of excitement to a regular cheesecake.

Simply drizzle on some melted caramel and even add in a pinch of salt for a makeshift salted caramel cheesecake recipe! 

Final Thoughts

There is so much that you can do to decorate a plain cheesecake and hopefully, our guide has given you some ideas as to how you can do so in order to suit your tastes!

These ideas are all easy to put into action, so why not grab yourself a naked cheesecake and jazz it up by creating your own delicious recipes with your favorite cheesecake toppings?

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Kathryn Sewell

Hi! I'm Kate and I have been baking and cooking for as long as I can remember. I like to share the most interesting tips and recipes I try here on What Kate Baked for you to enjoy. If you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share send it over on social.

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