Colored cheesecake

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 tbsp. chopped graham crackers (about 18 whole crackers)
• 110 g butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• A pinch of fine salt

Filling

• 3 packages of whipped cream cheese (320g each)
• 1 and 1/4 cups sugar
• 450 g sour cream, room temperature
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp red gel food coloring (or other color of choice)
• 0.5 tsp blue gel food coloring (or other color of choice)
• Special equipment: a springform pan with a diameter of 25 cm and a wooden skewer

Preparation:

1. Position the oven rack on the middle shelf and preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Cake: In a medium bowl, combine the crushed graham crackers, butter, sugar, and salt. Spread the mixture in the bottom of a 25cm springform pan and press firmly into place. Bake until golden brown, 15-18 minutes. Cool completely. Wrap the bottom and sides of the pan in a large piece of foil and place in a large roasting pan.
3. Filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth. Add the heavy cream and mix. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing by hand. Mix in the vanilla and lemon juice by hand as well. (Be careful not to overbeat the filling, otherwise the cheesecake will turn into a soufflé!).
4. Take two bowls and pour 1 cup of filling into each. Add red food coloring to one bowl and blue food coloring to the other. Leave the rest of the filling white.
5. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, spoon the filling onto the crust, alternating colors. Then insert a long wooden skewer all the way to the bottom and run it through the crust 4 times to create marbled streaks and a tie-dye effect. Place the cheesecake pan in a roasting pan. Fill the pan with enough hot water to come about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
6. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake is set but the center is still slightly runny, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour. Transfer the cheesecake from the pan to a cooling rack. Run a knife between the cheesecake and the sides of the pan and let it cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
7. Remove the cheesecake from the pan and transfer it to a cake stand or serving platter.