Throwing a party, hosting a dinner or simply a Sunday meal? We can only do so much, right!? You have enough to pull-together when entertaining so, instead of making a dessert from scratch, when not pick up a store-bought cheesecake or two and add your own toppings?
Here are some ideas to put your own spin on cheesecakes. My favorites are 1 and 6 🙂
10 Ways to Top a Store Bought Cheesecake
- This decadent blueberry and lemon topping (recipe below)
- Simply top with fresh fruit – just scatter your chosen fruit(s) on top of the cheesecake. If you want to get fancy, you can make a design with multiple varieties of fruit. The better the fruit the better the flavor.
- Top with candy – spread a layer of whipped cream on top of the cheesecake and scatter chopped peanut butter cups, Heath Bars, Snickers or your favorite chocolate candy bar over-top. Yum!
- Make a quick puree of strawberries, garnish with some mint sprigs for extra flair.
- Melt 1-2 cups of chocolate chips, place the melted chocolate into a piping bag (or snip off one corner of a baggie) and make a lattice design. Place Whopper candies (malted milk balls) in a circular design. It makes for a striking presentation!
- Drizzle melted caramel and chocolate over-top the cheesecake in a crisscross pattern. Sprinkle a handful of chopped pecans on top and you now have a “Turtle” Cheesecake!
- Smooth a layer of melted caramel over-top, mmmmm…caramel!!
- Black & White Chocolate Shavings – using a potato peeler, shave a milk or dark chocolate bar over-top and then shave part of a white chocolate bar over-top for a pretty presentation.
- Hollow out 2 dozen strawberries and fill them with whipped cream – use drops of melted chocolate to adhere them to the cheesecake…Pretty!
- Crushed Oreo Cookies, or better yet, Thin Mint Cookies… with chocolate syrup drizzled over-top!
- I know I said 10, however I just have to throw in one more, from when I first made cheesecakes as a teen, Top your cheesecake with chocolate dipped strawberries. And if your really pinched for time, you can even most likley pick those up from your grocer (in summer anyway)
What’s your favorite way to top a cheesecake?
#6 “Turtle” Cheesecake (one of my favorites) Top cheesecake with drizzles chocolate and caramel and if you like scatter some chopped pecans over-top as well, YUM!
Desserts remind me of days spent with the family. Why not have your kids (any age really) help to prep the dessert next time you are baking or cooking. Maybe have your tween take the lead. Encouraging your kids to cook, at any age, fosters confidence and competence in the kitchen and you know what?? Cooking is a life skill that we can easily give them at home. PLUS someday they’ll be cooking for you right? So why not give them a leg up!!
Soon you can tell your child/children “you are in charge of Sunday dinner dessert! How amazing would THAT be? They would feel so empowers, creative and proud plus YOU get a delicious dessert!
If cooking is something your tweens or teens enjoy doing or if they want to learn, check out my cookbook for kids “Kid Chef Everyday”. Its available on Amazon and soon to be in retail stores and its chock-full of real recipes that the whole family will actually enjoy eating! Crispy Baked Parmesan Wings, Strawberry Lime Jam (no pectin or canning needed and it’s better than anything you’ll buy), Cinnamon Bun Baked oatmeal, Lemon Pepper Pork Chops, Homemade Breakfast Sausage and more!
Enjoy baking?? Take a look at these delicious & somewhat different desserts:
My Prize Winning Key Lime Pie (seriously, I win a trip to the Florida Keys with this…It may be the best you’ve ever had AND it is SO easy!!)
My Irish Soda Bread (THIS is not your typical ISB!) It’s been featured by the TODAY Show! Irish Soda Bread is a delicious quick-bread for all-year-round! I have even done a version of it with Cranberries, perfect for the holidays!
Cranberry Pie aka Nantucket “Pie” is an easy, different vintage recipe that everyone will love!
And this Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake with Blueberry Compote is a showstopper! It has such flavor is so moist and one of my favorite desserts!
Hope you try these out and enjoy them! Let me know if you do! I love seeing your creations on Instagram! Tag me at @SouffleBombay!
Since I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist, so for nutritional calculations, I use a WordPress plug in. The numbers in this recipe are for the blueberry compote topping only.
10 Cheesecake Toppings - #1 Blueberry Compote
Ingredients
- 2 pounds blueberries
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- A couple dashes cinnamon (optional) and if you have it a pinch of cardamom
- Lemon zest for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine blueberries, water, lemon juice, sugar and spices (if using).
- Heat over medium heat until berries begin to burst and juice starts to thicken about 5 minutes.
- Remove a few spoonfuls of juice and in a tiny bowl mix that together with the cornstarch, then add it back to the berry mixture, allow it to bubble for a couple minutes, remove from heat.,
- Allow the compote to cool (unless you wish to serve warm... not hot.)
- When ready to serve your cheesecake, spoon the compote over-top (make a bit of a mound.) Garnish with lemon zest and or lemon triangles or halves and enjoy!!
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Rebecca Gardner says
I love your suggestion to add a layer of whipped cream and then sprinkle the cheesecake with chopped pieces of our favorite candy. My daughter loves cheesecake, so I was thinking about finding a local dessert shop where I can buy one for her birthday dinner at the end of this month. Adding her favorite candy would help make the cake whimsical and fun as well, so thanks for sharing that tip!
Colleen says
Have fun jazzing up the cheesecake! Happy Birthday to your daughter!