Treat yourself this Fall with this luscious Decorated Pumpkin Cheesecake made with an Oreo cookie crust and topped with a classic vanilla cheesecake layer. This would be the perfect dessert for Halloween parties or Thanksgiving! The decorating technique is easier than you might think, you only need to colour some of the cheesecake batter and pipe the pumpkin on top using some squeeze bottles or piping bags.

It’s a genius technique that I learned from one of my all-time favourite bloggers, Beth from Hungry Happenings.  She created a beautiful decorated daisy cheesecake a few months ago and ever since I saw her tutorial I wanted to give this technique a try. For the cheesecake layer I used the same recipe as her from Tyler Florence except I made an Oreo cookie crust instead of the classic crust made of graham crackers. Also, note that I adjusted the ingredients from the original recipe since I used a slightly bigger pan. 

Time: 80 min, Prep: 30 min. Cook: 50 min.
Servings: 8-10

Ingredients:

• 350 g Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies (about 30 cookies), crushed
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2.5 packages  (625 g / 20 ounces)  cream cheese, softened
• 1 ¼ cup (250 g) sugar
• 2 cups (500 g) sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Food colouring – orange, brown, black
• Squeeze bottles or piping bags or plastic sandwich/Ziploc bags

I have used a 10-inch (25.4 cm) round springform pan. You’ll also need some aluminum foil and a large roasting pan to place the springform pan into it and bake the cheesecake in a water bath.

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).

Mix the crushed Oreo cookies with the melted butter until the crumbs bind together.

 

Press the crumbs into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the springform pan and place the pan in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and free of any lumps. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the beaters and sides of the bowl as needed.

Gradually add sugar and beat for 2-3 more minutes until creamy. Add lemon zest, vanilla extract and sour cream and beat just until all the ingredients are combined.

Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of aluminum foil and fold up the sides.

Pour 2/3 of the plain batter into the springform pan, spreading evenly.

Colour 3 tablespoons of the remaining batter in brown and 5 tablespoons in black. The remaining batter should be coloured in orange.

Pour the coloured cheesecake batter into the squeeze bottles or piping bags.

 

Pipe the outline of the pumpkin using the orange batter.

Fill in the stem using the brown batter and the eyes and mouth using the black batter.

Pipe the remaining orange batter moving your hand in an up and down motion.

Carefully place the cheesecake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 50 minutes. Let it cool at room temperature for about an hour and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Remove the cheesecake from the pan by running a knife with a thin blade around the inside rim.