Red Velvet-Centre Cheesecake
Soo I posted a picture of a cheesecake I baked last night on Twitter earlier, and creamy-amande wanted the recipe. And as red velvet cheesecake isn't something you tend to see often (at least, I'd never seen it before I found the original recipe), I thought I'd share it for those of you who like baking :) I saw the recipe for this somewhere online, and adapted it to what I could easily find. I also like my cheesecakes a little creamier than most of the ones you can buy off-the-shelf, so I allowed for that too :)
Serves ~12
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup melted butter
1 pint whipping cream
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
650g cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
♠ Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Stir the milk, food coloring, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract together in a small bowl; set aside.
♠ Beat the softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until smooth. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan.
♠ Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
♠ Once the cake has cooled, cut half of the cake into cubes, and set aside. Cut the remaining cake into 1/2-inch strips, and place onto a baking sheet.
♠ Return the cake strips to the oven, and bake until they have dried out, about 15 minutes. Turn the strips over halfway through cooking so they dry evenly. Once completely dry, allow to cool to room temperature, then crush into fine crumbs.
♠ Combine the cake crumbs with the melted butter until evenly moistened. Press into a 10-inch springform pan (I used a 7 inch pan and had leftovers, which I used to make a couple of mini-cheesecakes to take into work), and refrigerate until the butter has hardened, about 45 minutes.
♠ When the crust has nearly hardened, whip the whipping cream until stiff, folding in 1/2 a cup of confectioner's sugar as you go; set aside. Beat the softened cream cheese in a bowl with the other cup of confectioner's sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream until evenly mixed.
♠ Pour half of the cream cheese mixture into hardened crumb crust. Spread the cake cubes evenly over the cream cheese mixture (I kept two aside and crumbled them over the top of the cheesecake to finish it off), then spread the remaining cream cheese over top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (I left mine overnight) until the cream cheese has set and the cheesecake is firm.
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I haven't tasted it yet, but one of the girls I brought a mini cheesecake in for loved it, and the cheese/cream mixture tasted pretty good on its own. I'd probably make it without the cake cubes next time, because I don't think it needs them, in which case you could easily halve the red velvet cake recipe and just make the base out of it.
This whole recipe would have probably been a lot easier had my electric hand-mixer not broken the day before, especially when it came to whipping the cream, and blending the cream cheese with the sugar. So I totally recommend having an electric one, but it CAN be done by hand >_>;
Serves ~12
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup melted butter
1 pint whipping cream
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
650g cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
♠ Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Stir the milk, food coloring, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract together in a small bowl; set aside.
♠ Beat the softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until smooth. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan.
♠ Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
♠ Once the cake has cooled, cut half of the cake into cubes, and set aside. Cut the remaining cake into 1/2-inch strips, and place onto a baking sheet.
♠ Return the cake strips to the oven, and bake until they have dried out, about 15 minutes. Turn the strips over halfway through cooking so they dry evenly. Once completely dry, allow to cool to room temperature, then crush into fine crumbs.
♠ Combine the cake crumbs with the melted butter until evenly moistened. Press into a 10-inch springform pan (I used a 7 inch pan and had leftovers, which I used to make a couple of mini-cheesecakes to take into work), and refrigerate until the butter has hardened, about 45 minutes.
♠ When the crust has nearly hardened, whip the whipping cream until stiff, folding in 1/2 a cup of confectioner's sugar as you go; set aside. Beat the softened cream cheese in a bowl with the other cup of confectioner's sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream until evenly mixed.
♠ Pour half of the cream cheese mixture into hardened crumb crust. Spread the cake cubes evenly over the cream cheese mixture (I kept two aside and crumbled them over the top of the cheesecake to finish it off), then spread the remaining cream cheese over top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (I left mine overnight) until the cream cheese has set and the cheesecake is firm.
-
I haven't tasted it yet, but one of the girls I brought a mini cheesecake in for loved it, and the cheese/cream mixture tasted pretty good on its own. I'd probably make it without the cake cubes next time, because I don't think it needs them, in which case you could easily halve the red velvet cake recipe and just make the base out of it.
This whole recipe would have probably been a lot easier had my electric hand-mixer not broken the day before, especially when it came to whipping the cream, and blending the cream cheese with the sugar. So I totally recommend having an electric one, but it CAN be done by hand >_>;