10-Flavor Cheesecake Sampler

🍰 10 different ways to flavor and decorate a cheesecake

Meet the cheesecake sampler – one humble cheesecake, gussied up with a variety of toppings to create ten different cheesecake flavors! Here are just a few reasons why you’ll love it:

• It’s easy! Store-bought cheesecake works just as well as homemade here, so pick up a cheesecake from the grocery store and you’re already 90% of the way there.
• There’s something for everyone. Feeding a group? Dealing with picky eaters or allergies? You can completely customize all the toppings to fit any preference, occasion, or season.
• It’s a real looker. Not to get too cocky, but this cheesecake is gorgeous! The variety of colors, textures, and toppings make it look WAY more fancy and complicated than it actually is.
• It’s fun to make, and a great way to experiment with different flavors without committing to a whole cheesecake.

The best part about this cheesecake recipe is that it’s SO flexible. I’ll be showing you how to do 10 different toppings, but they’re just the beginning–take them as inspiration to create your own flavor combinations and creations. So grab a cheesecake and let’s get to it!

🥣 What You’ll Need

The exact ingredients you need will depend on which flavors you want to make, and I’ll go over each individual slice down below. But here are the general ingredients and tools you’ll need to make a cheesecake sampler: (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Cheesecake: obviously! Because all the fun comes from the toppings, this is one instance when it’s totally fine, and even encouraged, to use a store-bought cheesecake. Look for a 9″ or 10″ cheesecake in the freezer or refrigerated bakery section of your local grocery store. If you want to go the homemade route, whip up my New York Style Cheesecake, and let it cool completely before proceeding.
• Parchment paper: I place folded parchment paper in between each slice–this both separates them and keeps the cut slices fresh. This is my favorite brand — it’s thick and heavy duty, so it doesn’t tear or get soggy in the refrigerator.
• Piping bags: Pick up a bunch of piping bags, because we’re going to be filling them with whipped cream, peanut butter, Nutella, lemon curd, and more!
• Piping tip: A simple star tip is all you’ll need to create those classic whipped cream swirls.
• Small offset spatula: This handy tool helps spread the toppings evenly, even in hard-to-reach nooks and crannies.

• Cut parchment paper into strips. Fold a strip of parchment around an offset spatula, and slide the spatula between two slices of cheesecake, wedging the parchment between them.
• Slide the spatula out, and repeat until every slice has a parchment divider.

⬇️ Cheesecake Flavor Breakdown

Here’s a quick overview of each slice in this 10-flavor cheesecake. You can find an easily printable version of this information down in the recipe card.

💭 More Variations

Here are a few more ways you can play with this recipe:

• Vary the base flavors: to keep things simple this recipe calls for just one plain cheesecake. However, if you want to really lean into the “sampler” idea, you can make or purchase multiple cheesecakes in other flavors, like chocolate, pumpkin spice, or peppermint. Cut the cheesecakes up into thirds or quarters, swap the pieces around so you have several cheesecakes with different base flavors, then decorate as desired. (If you don’t need that much cheesecake all at once, you can freeze extras for up to 6 months!)
• Get saucy: try adding strawberry sauce, blueberry sauce, cranberry sauce, blackberry sauce, or mango sauce to some of the slices. The more liquid sauces are best added shortly before serving so things don’t get messy.
• More fun ideas: try canned pie filling, cookie butter & Biscoff cookies, mocha sauce & chocolate-covered espresso beans, peaches or nectarines, cooked apples & caramel sauce, your favorite jams or jellies, chopped candy bars, and anything else you can imagine!