Red Velvet Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake.

A layer of vanilla cheesecake sandwiched between chocolate cake then topped with creamed cheese frosting.

Indulgent, sweet, creamy and perfectly fitting for Valentine’s Day.

Last year, when C and I went to Portland for the first time, many of our friends told us to check out the Cheesecake Factory. I had always wanted to go, but never made it there before last year. Though they are known for their indulgent and massive cheesecakes, they also had really good food options. Since it was my first time trying this restaurant, I told C that we had to try one of their cheesecakes (even though we were stuffed beyond belief at this point !). We were so full that I ordered a slice of red velvet cheesecake to go. Needless to say, it was amazing (I’m sure you all had already known that!). Perfectly creamy, sweet, dense, and rich. And their slices are massive – I swear it could have been a meal all on its own.

Which brings me to this recipe – after I tried the cake, I knew it would be the perfect dessert to top off a Valentine’s Day dinner. I had never made red velvet before, so I went with this recipe for the cake and this recipe for the creamed cheese frosting. To be honest, the cake recipe was just way too dense for my liking. The cake itself was already rich with the different layers, and with the increased density, it just made the whole thing much too heavy.

I was determined to find a red velvet recipe that was fluffy, moist, and delicious, which brought me to this site. (Its amazing and something I would totally do if I were determined to find the perfect recipe!) Following my disappointment with the cake density, I made cupcakes with the recipe that was originally from ‘Apple a Day’ – it was deliciously fluffy and moist! I must however admit that I did shamefully make some substitutions since I didn’t have cake flour or buttermilk on hand.

• 1 1/4 C cake flour (substituted: AP flour w/ corn flour)
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 C vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (substituted: milk + 1 tsp vinegar)
• 1 tablespoons (1 ounce) red food coloring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt.
3. With an electric mixer, beat together eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar until well combined.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
5. Divide batter evenly between 2 greased and floured 6-inch round cake pans.
6. Bake cakes, rotating halfway through for 15-20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cakes cool 5 mins, then invert and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 C + 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 1/2 packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 C icing sugar, sifted

1. Beat softened butter until fluffy. Add creamed cheese and vanilla and continue to beat until fully incorporated.
2. Gradually add in sifted icing sugar, scraping the sides and beating until smooth.

Assembly

1. Trim/ level the red velvet cake layers if necessary
2. Stack the three layers – the cheesecake layer (your recipe of choice)  should be sandwiched between the two red velvet cake layers
3. Crumb coat everything – you want to basically spread a thin layer of icing over the entire cake to lock in all the crumbs so that when you’re ready to ice the entire cake, you don’t have random red crumbs on the outside of your finished product. It doesn’t really matter how neat this layer is, because you’ll be adding another layer of icing after this step. After you’ve crumb coated, freeze the cake for about 30 mins to allow the icing to firm up.
4. Icing – this is where your icing matters. Cover the entire cake with an even and smooth layer of icing. If you’ve never done this before, I’d suggest checking out some youtube videos first (there are tons – just look up “how to ice a cake”). Freeze again for at least 20 mins.
5. Decorating – with any left over icing, you can pipe a decorative design around the edge of the cake, top with shaved white chocolate, sprinkles or whatever else you’d like. Or you could completely forgo this step and just eat the cake as is. Either way, I’m sure it’ll be delicious =]

PS  – If you haven’t heard, Angie from The Novice Gardener is hosting weekly ‘Fiesta Friday’ blog parties and I just joined the party! Check out her page (here) for more info on joining the party. It’s also a great resource for viewing other amazing food creations and connecting with other bloggers!