Happy Mardi Gras, y'all! Considering that Glazed & Confused's Mardi Gras takeover since the middle of January, I am thrilled that the day is finally here.

I've been out on the streets of New Orleans for the majority of the weekend, so I have decided to take it easy today and stay home and indulge in this king cake cheesecake. Also, you know, because it's 30 degrees and sleeting outside too. (Seriously, what the hell is this winter?)

Considering that I've never made a cheesecake before, I don't think this was a total fail. Oops?! So I had a little trouble with getting it to set in the middle, but this king cake cheesecake is delicious nonetheless! I wasn't sure whether or not to post it, but screw it.

I made a traditional cinnamon roll dough for the crust, and made sure to add a drop of butter vanilla baker's emulsion and a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia, a citrus-vanilla flavoring straight from Italy, to give it that traditional king cake flavor. On top of the cheesecake filling, I dropped spoonfuls of cinnamon sugar filling and some remaining dough, swirled it together, and set it off to bake!

King Cake Dough

2/3 cup white sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
½ cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. fiori di sicilia

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and mix in on low speed until just combined Spread half of the dough mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan.

Set aside the rest; it will be used before the cheesecake goes into the oven.

Cheesecake Filling

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons flour
3 eggs

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and flour and beat until homogenous, about one minute. 

Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the dough in the pan. 

Cinnamon Filling

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

In a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. 

Drop spoonfuls of the filling over the top of the cheesecake.

Take the rest of the base batter and drop spoonfuls over the entire top of cheesecake. Swirl gently with a knife. The batter is thick but just gently do it the best you can.

Bake for about 50 to 55 minutes (I'd go with 55, lol). The center should be slightly set and the cake will be puffy and lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes at room temperature. Transfer the cheesecake into the fridge for at least 4 hours to set up. When you're ready to devour it, take it out of the oven about 30 minutes before serving.