Decorating a cheesecake--suggestions?

[pattycake]

Hi,
I am looking to decorate cheesecakes in more of a traditional cake manner. How ever I can not imaging buttercreme or royal icing on top of it--ick! I am leaning to some type of fondant, chocolate, or creme cheese type icing--it is highly important that I can decorate it for weddings, birthdays, and other general occasions. Any ideas--anyone?

[PA Baker]

I agree, Pattycake, that you wouldn't want to use a traditional icing on it. My first thought is that depending on the flavor of cheesecake, a chocolate ganace would work nicely. Fondant would allow you to decorate more, but I think would need to be removed comepletely before eating the cheesecake or it would just be a no-so-good mixture of tastes and textures.

What about a very smooth fruit topping (almost like a fruit gel) that could firm up and you could decorate on top of?

[Nannsi]

How about using paper doilies and cocoa powder to stencil designs on top? Or chill a thin sheet of birght jelly or aspic and use aspic cutters to cut shapes? Make chocolate leaves or curls? My mother used to decorate cakes frosted with seven-minute icing using toothpicks dipped in food coloring, or paint designs using brushes. Outline in chocolate/white chocolate ganache? Fruit flavored cream cheese icing piped in the usual ways?

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I just recently made a recipe that would work great for you. It's called a ganache.

The ganache I made would be just a little too runny, so I'll alter it here.

Ingredients:
3 cups dark-chocolate morsals (semi-sweet)
1 cup cream
1/2 cube unsweetened butter

Combine ingredients in a 2 quart saucepan and heat while stirring with a baloon whisk until silky smooth. Let cool until you can easily tolerate a spoonful fresh from the pot. Gently pour the ganache on the top-center of the cheescake and allow to spread naturaly until it starts driiping down the sides. This is best done on a sheet of waxed paper to minimise any mess.

Add 1/2 cup icing sugar to the remaining ganach, stir to make a chocolate icing and put into a piping bag. After the ganache has completely cooled, decorate with the icing using your favorite tip.

Another great topping for cheesecake is fruit topping cooked and blended. It should be as thick as pie filling, but smooth as silk.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
P.S. I love Nannsi's ideas.

[middie]

maybe just make some whip cream yourself and pipe it along the edges of the cheesecake ? and put some fruits in the center ?

[Haggis]

The idea of something a bit lighter to offset the general richness of the cheesecake appeals to me. I just think a cream cheese based icing on a cream-cheese based cheesecake might be a little too much :P.

Depending on the flavour of the cheesecake you could do citrus flavoured whipped cream topping or something else thats fresh tasting.

[htc]

Haggis, do you just make whipped cream citrus flavored by tossing some fresh squeeze citrus juice and rind into the cream as you whip? Or does it need to be more exacting (i.e. carefully measured)?

[Haggis]

Cant say I measure it, just eyeball it and do it to taste/ey. I am partial to using very finely grated zest instead of lemon juice alot of the time, just adds a bit more zing. But lemon juice works as well.

You could also do a coconut flavoured whipped cream, using coconut essence/dessicated coconut/bit of coconut milk/cream.

Flaked almonds (or any nut pieces) could also be another decoration. You could spread some jam or whipped cream as a base so the nuts had something to adhere to.

[mrsmac]

My mum used to add gelatine to the juice from a tin of pitted black cherries then put the cherries on top of the cheesecake and cover with the gel and let firm. You could ude any fruit, I will see if I can find her exact recipe if you like.

[marmalady]

I've used pretty ribbons and fresh flowers to decorate wedding cakes; the same would look pretty on a cheesecake and get over the problem with clashing tastes!