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Guys, I have a huge confession to make, one that makes me feel a little ashamed since I have a bake-from-scratch philosophy. Chocolate Moosey prides itself on homemade, yet here I am with the worst baking secret ever: I love Funfetti cake mix. It has always been my favorite. Several times I tried to duplicate it from scratch, and either the sprinkles melted and turned my cake pink or that certain taste just wasn’t there. It’s not a white cake. It’s not a yellow cake. It’s a Funfetti cake. Does anybody else feel this way? Or am I just crazy?
My coworker’s birthday was back in February and hands down, she loves cheesecake. But what’s better than a cheesecake? A Funfetti cheesecake :D I even had confetti sprinkles to match.
(yes, I made this cheesecake a few months ago. Call it a long, lost recipe if you will)
I can’t remember who inspired me, but a long time ago I stumbled upon someone’s blog for cake batter pancakes. All she did was mix in several tablespoons of Funfetti cake mix. I had success once using that method with ice cream, so I decided to use that same method with a cheesecake recipe I’ve made before. Of course you can’t forget the sprinkles ;)
So here’s some food for thought – when do you call a recipe yours? Of course I didn’t make up the recipe for the cheesecake base, but I did add two major ingredients, ones where without these, it would not be a Funfetti cheesecake. It’s not like I swapped out vanilla for almond and called it a day. The easy solution is to say adapted or inspired from, but what do cookbook authors do? Are the recipes 100% theirs, from conception to execution? We all have to start somewhere, no?
There was a bit of controversy in the news where Anne Thornton of Food Network’s Dessert First(my fav show which got cancelled :( ) was accused of plagiarism because her recipes were “very similar” to other famous bakers’ recipes. One example was German Chocolate Cake Frosting. I mean you have butter, sugar, coconut, and pecans. How else are you supposed to create this recipe without “copying” others? Copyright laws say a list of ingredients is not protected but the written directions are (whether she copied the directions, I’m not sure).
Some bloggers say you should ask the recipe author for permission before even posting the recipe. But what if that person never responds? Or doesn’t respond when you want to post? Most (if not all) of my content are from other sources, whether they are exactly the same or with adaptations. If I waited for permission each time, I might as well never have a blog. Of course when I do post, I type up the directions with my voice. I take my own pictures. And when I don’t, I credit my source. I have no intention of stealing anything.
So now that we got the blogging politics out of the way, time to celebrate with a slice of fun! Did you know Chocolate Moosey is turning 5 this Friday? I definitely think this cheesecake fits the bill, don’t you?
Funfetti Cheesecake
Serves: Two 4-inch cheesecakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup Funfetti cake mix
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Grease four 4-inch springform pans. Place on a baking sheet and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and side of each pan.
- In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in the cake mix then beat in the lemon juice and vanilla. Divide batter among the four pans.
- Bake 15-20 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully loosen the pans; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight before serving.
Source: Loosely adapted from Taste of Home Prize-Winning Recipes book, page 74
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Congratulations on your 5 year blog “birthday”!! The cheesecake is so pretty & looks very delicious too.
Happy 5th birthday, my sweet friend. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate! A great fun cheesecake AND a new blog!
The Cheesecake looks delicious! Happy 5th Birthday!! :-)
I love funfetti cake! It’s also one of my serious guilty pleasures that I haven’t indulged in for a long time, but now I can. It also helps that I am obsessed with cheesecake. Like seriously obsessed. Thanks for sharing this recipe! As far as the recipe attribution business goes – I think if you’re acknowledging where the adaptation/inspiration/recipe came from (and not copying and pasting) I think that’s all you can do. Aside from recipes that are only served in one place, made by one chef, I think it’s really difficult to say anyone owns a chocolate chip or frosting recipe, etc. There are only so many ways to milk the cow :)
And Congratulations on your 5 year Blog Anniversary! Yay!
Happy 5 years! What a great way to celebrate, I adore funfetti (and yes the boxed stuff rocks my face off).
These look so fun! I love that you used them in mini cheesecake pans! Happy blog anniversary!
can this be made in one pan instead? if so, how would you adjust baking time? thanks!
Are you referring to a 9-inch pan? If so, you’ll need to adjust the ingredients too. For the crust, use 3 cups crumbs and 6 Tbsp melted butter. For the filling, use 24 oz cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup cake mix, 3 eggs, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp vanilla, and 3/4 cup sprinkles. Baking time will be 35-40 minutes.
Thank you! I am making this cake in a few days :) I will also be using a 9-inch pan.
Has anyone made it in a 9 inch pan? Does it turn out alright since the ingredients are adjusted….I really want to make this for my sisters birthday :)
Read my adjustments above. I’ve made variations of this cheesecake recipe as a 9 inch, so yes it turns out fine!
I made this in a 9-inch pan and it turned out just fine. Maybe a little bit more filling than I needed because I ended up baking it a little longer but it still tasted amazing!
Happy (belated) blogaversary! :)
First of all, I can think of two little girls who will probably be delighted with this! I don’t think I’ve seen funfetti cake mix, but I have a shaker of dinosaur shaped sprinkles that would probably do the trick.
As for the question of when is it “your” recipe, that’s tricky, isn’t it? I think (hope?) that anyone acting in good faith, providing credit where they think credit is due, should be ok. I was worried about this with my last SundaySupper post, because the recipe still tastes a lot like the original (which was the goal), but took nearly half a dozen tries to adapt successfully for the slow cooker. So I just cited the book it was based on. I’m quite sure I’m ok from a legal point of view, as the directions were not just written by me instead of copied – the steps are completely different. And I think I’m ok from a ‘moral’ standpoint too. And if you make changes that fundamentally change the result, it seems to me that that makes it your own.
I absolutely could not live without Funfetti. I also could not live without cheesecake. This recipe just absolutely made my day!