Happy Mardi Gras, y’all! I want to show you how to make this wonderful King Cake Cheesecake for Mardi Gras! If you’re in the mood for a green, gold, and purple-decorated cheesecake for your celebration, this is the recipe for you!
Round out your Mardi Gras with this easy spicy Cajun tomato soup or my Great Northern Beans (white beans and rice).
For ease of browsing, find all my cheesecake recipes here in one place. Thanks for being here. Now, let’s get started.
Excellent recipe, I made one in advance to rest it, now preparing to make 2 more to take to work on Fat Tuesday. The recipe is everything promised.
Reader Jason
King Cake Cheesecake, At a Glance
✅Skill Level: Intermediate
✅Skills: Crumb crust, cheesecake batter, baking a cheesecake so it doesn’t crack
✅Type: Cheesecake
✅Number of Ingredients: 3 in the crust, 9 in the batter, 5 in the optional glaze
✅Prep Time: 20 minutes
✅Cook Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
✅Yield: 1 9″ cheesecake or about 12 servings
Jump Straight to the Recipe
Why Make This Recipe?
First of all, it’s cheesecake, so what’s not to love?
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It’s an easy recipe to memorize because it has an easy ratio:
1 block cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 oz cream cheese (plus seasoning/flavorings)
Since it has an easy ratio, you can make a 6″ cheesecake with 2 blocks, an 8″ with 3 blocks, and a 9-10″ cheesecake with 4 blocks of cream cheese.
The batter is rich and thick and bakes up beautifully in a water bath.
The cinnamon in the batter is a lovely complement to the tanginess of the cream cheese. The crumb crust echoes a little bit of that cinnamon flavor, and the cream cheese glaze adds its own particular tang.
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How to Make This King Cake Cheesecake
This cheesecake is made in 3 parts:
- Graham cracker crust, which you can make with homemade Graham crackers or store-bought
- Cheesecake filling
- Cream cheese glaze and colored sugar
If you’re comfortable with making crumb crust and cheesecake, you can go ahead and check out the recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to make each component. Where possible, I will also provide substitutions that will work in this recipe.
For the Crust
- Graham crackers: You can also use vanilla wafers or chocolate sandwich cookies if you prefer. Try using my homemade graham crackers. In that case, you’ll be able to cut down on the butter in the crust recipe.
- Butter: The fat holds the crust together. You probably don’t need nearly as much as you think you do. Sub coconut oil or plant-based butter
- Salt: For flavor. I generally find there is no need to add additional sugar, but if you must, you can add a tablespoon or so.
NOTE: Adding extra sugar to your crumb crust can cause it to set up too hard, making it very difficult to cut to serve or to eat.
For the Filling
- Cream cheese: Provides body, tang, and the bulk of the filling. You may sub neufchatel in blocks if you prefer. In that cast, do use the otherwise-optional cornstarch to prevent any weeping.
- Sugar: Provides sweetness, minimal aeration, and body
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar and cinnamon is a good enough combo for breakfast toaster pastries, so it’s good enough here!
- Salt: Brings out the flavor in the rest of the ingredients
- Cinnamon: Provides warm, spicy notes
- Vanilla: Rounds out the cinnamon flavor
- Sour Cream: Adds a little extra tang and loosens the batter up a bit. You can substitute creme fraiche or buttermilk. (I have a cinnamon buttermilk cheesecake if you’d like to check that out as well)
- Eggs: Adds structure and allows the cheesecake to set up to a sliceable consistency.
- Cornstarch (Optional): When the starch gelatinizes, it holds onto liquid in the batter that would otherwise begin to weep out after a couple of days
If making this for Mardi Gras, you may want to hide a pecan half in your batter. It’s better than baking a plastic baby in your cheesecake!
Whoever gets the slice with the pecan is in charge of next year’s festivities!
For the Topping
- Cream cheese: Provides tang and body
- Sour cream: Same as cream cheese, plus since it’s a bit looser, it helps make a good glaze consistency
- Salt: Brings out the flavor. Don’t leave it out!
- Vanilla: Rounds out the flavor of the glaze and provides floral notes.
- Powdered sugar: Provides sweetness and contributes to the thickness of the glaze
Procedure
Cheesecakes are fairly straightforward to make.
Here’s the procedure. Be sure to follow my tips for success below to make the perfect King Cake Cheesecake!
- Make and pre-bake the crust.
- Mix all the cheesecake ingredients together on low-to-medium speed. (See recipe for the order)
- Scrape into prepared pan and bake in a water bath.
- Cool and chill.
- Glaze and decorate in Mardi Gras colors (or however you like)
Equipment/Ingredient Recommendations
You may want to use a push pan or springform pan to bake this cake.
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I love a push-pan. Easier to clean than a springform pan, and it doesn't deform the way springform pans can sometimes do. To "de-pan," all you have to do is go around the edge of the pan with a thin spatula to make sure the cake is loose. Then put the pan on a raised round surface smaller than the opening in the pan--a large can works well, Then, slowly slide the sides of the pan down and lift the cake on the base up and away. Easy!
This will eliminate the need of turning the cake out and then flipping it right-side up.
But know, even if you don’t own either kind of pan and only have an 8″ x 3″ cake pan, you can still successfully make a cheesecake.
The best way to tell if your cheesecake is done is to use an instant-read thermometer. They are very versatile, and I highly recommend picking one up.
If decorating for Mardi Gras, you’ll want purple, green, and gold sanding sugars or sprinkles.
Tips for Success
Make sure all your ingredients–including cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs are at room temperature. This will make for a smoother batter and easier mixing.
When mixing the batter, don’t mix faster than medium speed. This will minimize the amount of air you beat into the batter and keep your cheesecake from “soufleeing” and then falling, causing cracks.
Cool your cheesecake gradually–first in the oven with the door open, and then on the counter. Finally, refrigerate it. Slow cooling also minimizes cracking.
If your cheesecake cracks anyway, don’t despair. The glaze will cover it, and nobody ever has to know!
Visual How-To
Here is a video clip to give you an idea of what the texture of your batter should look like once you’ve mixed it.
I hope you find it helpful!
Just remember: make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. It’s especially important that the cream cheese be very soft so you can mix it with the sugar and end up with zero lumps.
Also, here is the order to add the ingredients, mixing after each addition:
- cream cheese, salt, and both sugars
- cinnamon and vanilla
- sour cream
- eggs, 1 at a time
After everything is incorporated, this is how luscious your batter should look:
Cheesecake Q & A
Your cheesecake will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days if not made with cornstarch. Adding the cornstarch will buy you another couple of days without weeping. Note that even if you cake does weep, it is still edible and will be tasty. The weeping will soften the crust, though. Plan on eating in no more than 5 days?
Yes, cheesecake freezes really well. Freeze whole before glazing and decorating, well wrapped in plastic wrap and tin foil. Leave the cake in the pan. Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating. For the cleanest cuts, chill before slicing, and wipe your knife clean between each cut.
Yes. Use gluten-free cookies for the crumb crust, and check all your labels to avoid any kind of cross-contamination. Otherwise, as written, the batter and glaze are gluten-free.
Serving Suggestions
This cheesecake stands on its own, friends. It is rich, cinnamony, and very, very tasty. And the crunch from the sugar on top is really nice.
If you love cinnamon and nuts, consider chopping some candied pecans and serving this cheesecake with a spoonful of hand-whipped cream and a sprinkle of the nuts.
And if you’re making a King cake cheesecake as part of your Mardi Gras celebration, consider serving it as dessert after a meal of chicken & sausage gumbo or red beans and rice.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love This Cheesecake? Please Rate and Review. Thanks!
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Cinnamon King Cake Cheesecake Recipe
Enjoy this as an alternative to bready King Cake, or decorate as desired to enjoy cinnamon cheesecake any time of year.
Video
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Ingredients
For the Graham crust
- 1 sleeve Graham crackers about 18 squares/9 sheets
- pinch of salt
- 1.5 oz 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
For the Cheesecake Batter
- 3 blocks 24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- heavy pinch of salt
- 3 oz granulated sugar
- 3 oz brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch optional
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 oz about 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 3 large eggs
To Decorate
- 2 oz 1/4 block cream cheese
- 1 oz (about 2 Tablespoons sour cream
- 8 oz about 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Prep
- Allow cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream to come to room temperature, about 1-1 1/2 hours.
- Heat oven to 350F for the crust
- If using a 1-piece pan, spray all over with pan spray and line the bottom and sides with a circle and strips of parchment.
- If using a push pan or springform pan, just line the bottom of the pan with parchment and spray the sides with pan spray.
- Get a cake pan or roasting pan that is 1" larger than your baking pan. Fill a kettle with water. Heat to a boil right before you put the cake in the oven. This is for the water bath.
For the Crust
- Crush cookies in a food processor or a plastic bag.
- Add salt.
- Melt the butter and work in until the mixture looks like damp sand.
- Press evenly into the bottom of your pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes and remove to cool.
- Turn the oven down to 300F.
For the Batter
- On no more than medium speed, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.
- Add salt, brown sugar, and brown sugar and mix until well-combined, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- Add cinnamon and vanilla, and mix again.
- Mix in sour cream.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing one in well before adding the next. Be sure to scrape the bowl often.
- Scrape the finished batter into the prepared crust.
- If making for Mardi Gras, push a pecan half down into the batter near the edge of the pan.
- Place the filled pan of batter into the larger pan and place on the oven rack.
- Carefully pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the pan.
- Bake until the center of the cheesecake registers 160F with an instant-read thermometer.
- Turn off oven, open oven door, and let cool for 30 minutes.
- Remove to a rack and cool completely.
- Chill completely and remove from the pan.
- Spread on the glaze and decorate with sprinkles as desired.
For the Glaze
- Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 10 seconds, just to soften.
- Whisk cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth.
- Whisk in salt and vanilla.
- Whisk in as much powdered sugar as necessary to make a thick glaze.
- Spread glaze over the top of the cheesecake, allowing it to drip down the sides if it wants to.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Storing
Keep chilled in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Slice it chilled, but for best flavor and texture, allow the slices to sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before serving.Freezing
Freeze the whole cake, or freeze individual slices. Wrap well in plastic and then foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Allow the cake to thaw completely in the fridge before serving. If freezing the whole cake, freeze before decorating and then decorate after it thaws.Nutrition
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
Other ways to share include pinning, and/or sharing on your favorite social media platform.
Thank you so much for taking the time!
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
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Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Enjoy the cinnamon King Cake Cheesecake!
Take care, y’all.
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Delicious! Takes a while to bake though, 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach desired temperature. Also would be nice to have sugar measurements in tablespoons instead of ounces. The web page is annoying in that it often jumps to ads and reloads. Next time I will print out the recipe and figure the measurements in advance. Truly loved the end result. It was a birthday celebration hit!
Glad you enjoyed the cheesecake and that you verified doneness with a thermometer. Everyone’s ovens are different! I provide all my measurements in weight because it’s more accurate. In more recent posts, I have tried to give grams, ounces AND volume measures because I guess it’s impossible to convince folks to buy a scale. lol As to the jumping–did you hit “jump to recipe?” That should’ve allowed you to follow the recipe without any reloading. If it is still being obnoxious, hitting “Print Recipe” will pull up a clean copy that is ad-free and will not jump around. I love that you made this as a birthday cake–yay that it was a hit!
Excellent recipe, I made one in advance to rest it, now preparing to make 2 more to take to work on Fat Tuesday. The recipe is everything promised.
So glad it passes muster, and I hope your coworkers love it, Jason!
I’ve made this recipe over and over again and it always turns out with a hard crust. I must be doing something wrong but I can’t figure out what. Any suggestions?
Try brushing melted butter all over the crust as soon as it come spit of the oven. That will help keep it nice and soft.
I love King’s cake and I love Cheesecake…what a genius idea to combine the two.
Thanks Sandi! You know I love to shove as many calories as possible into a baked good! ❤️
I want to make a King Cake this year. I’ve seen many recipes, however, I’m going to make this one. It doesn’t look, or sound,like it will be dry, it sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing another terrific recipe.
I agree, there is nothing in stores for Mardi Gras, seems strange.
Oh, I’m so pleased you’ve chosen this one! And no, it’s not dry at all, Nadine! I hope you love it. =)
I love this post! Chock full of wit and fact you cover the topic in true JF style, but No More so than this cake is decked out in bling. And you’re right: drug stores are the barometer for upcoming holidays. Beautiful cake, my friend!
Thank you, friend! I always appreciate your feedback. I had this image in my head of drug stores as TARDIS or something but couldn’t quite articulate it the way I wanted. Glad it came across okay. =)
I LOVE your non-traditional King’s Cake. Great recipe, post and pics!
Hi, Betsy! Thank you, and thank you so much for stopping in! =)