Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake for National Cheesecake Day!

Cake and Cheesecake are my two favorite desserts.. and with dessert, I get both. It's like 2 in 1. Perfect. You can do any type of cheesecake or cake combination you like. For example, chocolate cake with peanut butter cheesecake. This is one of my most asked for desserts, it looks impressive, but it's actually pretty simple. Let's start out with the cheesecake layer. Here's what you'll need

A boat load of cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and sour cream. Place cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl

Beat on low speed until combined, then turn up to medium and beat until fluffy, about a minute. Add vanilla and sour cream

Mix until combined, then add eggs, one at a time

Beat well after each addition. Pour cheesecake batter into a greased springform pan

Bake and cool. Refrigerate about 2 hours. While the baked cheesecake is chilling, prepare the cake layer. I've already made this exact red velvet cake recipe in cupcakes so I didn't take pictures. Here's the link to the recipe http://kysweettoothsisters.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-cupcakes.html. 

The only thing you need to do differently is use 2 round cake pans (what ever size the springform pan is. For example, if you are using a 9-inch springform pan for the cheesecake, you should use 9-inch cake pans for the cake.) Once you have baked your cakes, flip them out of the pans onto wax paper lined cooling racks to cool completely. Now for the last step before assembling, prepare the cream cheese frosting. I've also made cream cheese frosting before so I didn't take step by step pictures of this process either. It shows how to make it in the same link above. Sorry if all of that was super confusing, I did the best I could.. 

So you now have all 3 parts of the dessert made and ready to go. It's time to assemble your red velvet cake cheesecake! Place one layer of the red velvet cake on the serving plate you are going to use. Cover with 1/4 of the cream cheese frosting

Set the cheesecake gently on top of the frosting. Be VERY careful, the cheesecake could split in half, not speaking from personal experience or anything... Now slab on a layer of frosting over the cheesecake. This is a little tricky because the cheesecake is slick

Now stack on the last cake layer and frost all the tops and sides of the cake cheesecake. If desired you can decorate it somehow. I chopped white bakers chocolate and covered the sides and tops in the chopped chocolate. Here's the inside of the Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

Cut yourself a huge piece, eat the whole thing, and don't regret it :)

Store in refrigerator. 

Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

Cheesecake:

3 (8 oz. pkgs) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbs. vanilla

3 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar on low speed until combined. Once combined, beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Once your cheesecake batter is finished, pour into a greased 9-inch round spring form pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn oven off and open door slightly. Remove cheesecake from oven and let cool completely. Prepare the other parts of the cheesecake cake while cooling.

Cake:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 Tbs. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 oz. red food coloring

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir together until combined. Pour into 2 9-inch round greased cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-28 minutes or until done the cake is set in the middle. Take out of the oven to cool. Flip cakes out of the pans onto a wax paper lined wire wrack. Cool completely. While cooling, prepare the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy and smooth. (Usually, when I make frosting I make sure the butter and cream cheese are soft. This time when I made the frosting, I only let the cream cheese and butter sit about about 15-20 minutes. When I started making the frosting they were both still hard, but I just beat them together for a while with the mixer and believe it or not, cream cheese frosting has never turned out better for me.) Mix in the vanilla. Lastly, add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure there are no lumps. Now put together the cake.

Assemble: 

Place one of the red velvet cake layers on the serving plate you choose to use. Scoop 1/4 of the frosting on that layer and spread out evenly. Gently set the cheesecake over the frosting. Carefully spread 1/4 of the frosting on the cheesecake (be careful, the frosting will be hard to spread over the cheesecake because it is slick. If you're having trouble, just be patient, it will spread out eventually. Now set the last cake layer over the frosted cheesecake. Use the rest of the frosting to cover the tops and sides of the cheesecake cake. Decorate if desired. Store in fridge, enjoy :)

White Chocolate PB Cheesecake

Now this dessert, not trying to brag, but it is amazing. Plus, it is not my recipe so it's okay if I brag. I got so many compliments on this cheesecake, more than I have gotten on any dessert before. I'm not going to waste any time, I'm just going to get this out there and yall need to make it. I give you permission to eat the whole thing by yourself. Here's what you'll need

Nutter butters, butter, sugar, cream cheese, white bakers chocolate, flour, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla, and white chocolate reese's cups. Place the nutter butters in the bowl of a food processor

Pulse until crumbly. Add butter and sugar

Pulse until completely combined

Press into a greased springform pan

Bake about 5 minutes. Let cool; prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese about 2 minutes

Add sugar

Beat until fluffy and well combined. Add eggs one at a time

Once the eggs have been well mixed in, add the peanut butter, melted & cooled white chocolate, flour, and vanilla

Beat all this together well on medium speed

Chop reese's cups into halves and fourths

Set those aside. Pour half of the filling over the crust and spread it out evenly

Sprinkle half of the chopped reese's cups over the first layer

Pour the remaining cheesecake filling on top

Sprinkle with the remaining reese's cups

Bake

Cool until cheesecake has gotten to room temp. Refrigerate overnight or until cold. While chilling, prepare the peanut butter cream cheese dollops. Here's what you'll need

Cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar

Beat until well combined. Add the peanut butter and vanilla

Mix it up until you get this...

It will need to be thick so don't add any liquid. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Scoop into a piping bag. Pipe around the cheesecake to where there is 1 dollop for each piece of cheesecake (pipe like you would pipe frosting on a cupcake)

Slice and serve with whipped cream (optional). & the inside of the cheesecake

This would be super good if you wanted to add peanut butter ice cream topping on each slice. Or even butterfinger candy when you add the reese's cups. Whatever floats your boat. Enjoy :)

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Reese's Cheesecake

crust:

1 pkg. mini nutter butters (20 regular size nutter butters)

4 Tbs. butter, melted

2 Tbs. sugar

Pulse nutter butters until crumbly. Add melted butter and sugar. Pulse until well combined and crust sticks together. (add more butter if crust doesn't squeeze together). Press into the bottom of a greased 9-inch spring form pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Cool and prepare the filling.

filling:

3 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, room temp

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 Tbs. vanilla

2 Tbs. flour

1/3 heaping cup creamy peanut butter

8 oz. white bakers chocolate, melted & cooled

1 bag reese's white chocolate pb cups, unwrapped and cut into halves or fourths

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then mix in vanilla, flour, peanut butter, and melted & cooled white bakers chocolate. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, smooth, and well combined. Pour half of the cheesecake mixture over the crust. Sprinkle half of the reese's cups over that. Pour the remaining cheesecake mixture on top, spreading out evenly. Sprinkle the remaining reese's cups on top. Bake at 325 degrees about 50-65 minutes. (It may be a little jiggly) Do not bake longer than 65 minutes or cheesecake will get too overdone. Let the cheesecake set up and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cover and store in the fridge overnight or at least 8 hours. Now prepare the peanut butter cream cheese.

peanut butter cream cheese:

1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, room temp

1- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (add more if needed)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Beat cream cheese until smooth in a medium size mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Beat in the peanut butter and vanilla until combined and fluffy. Mixture should be thick, so don't add liquid. Scoop into a piping bag and pipe dollops around the edges where each slice will have one dollop. (Pipe like you would pipe frosting on a cupcake.) Serve with whipped cream. Store in fridge up to 4 days. Enjoy! *I used white chocolate wonderful peanut butter because it was all I had on hand, feel free to use regular or whatever kind you desire.*

Marbled Cheesecake Squares

The other night I had chocolate swirled cheesecake and it was delicious. I've been craving it ever since, so of course, I satisfied my craving. Instead of making a whole cheesecake I just split the recipe in half and made cheesecake bars. It made a little less and was a little easier. Here's what you'll need for the cheesecake bars

Oreos, butter, cream cheese, sugar (which I forgot to put in the picture, sorry about that), an egg, vanilla, sour cream, semi-swet bakers chocolate, milk chocolate chips and half & half. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the oreos until small crumbs form. Add the melted butter

Pulse until combined and finely crushed. Press into a greased 8X8 baking dish

Cover and store in the freezer to harden up; prepare the filling. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on high speed for about a minute. Add the sugar

Mix until fluffy and combined. Add the egg and vanilla

Beat that in and add the sour cream

Mix that together well and set aside for now. In a small microwavable bowl, melt the bakers chocolate

Add some of the cream cheese mixture into the melted and cooled chocolate

Stir that in until the cheesecake is completely mixed into the chocolate

Pull the oreo crust out of the fridge and pour half of the regular cheesecake mixture onto the crust

Spread that out evenly. Then dollop half of the chocolate mixture on top and swirl into the regular cheesecake with a butter knife

Pour the rest of the cheesecake filling over that

spread out evenly and swirl in the rest of the chocolate mixture

Bake. Let cool. Once cooled prepare a ganache topping. Place chocolate chips and half & half in a small microwavable bowl

Heat in the microwave until melted. Stir about every 30 seconds to keep from burning. Let the ganache cool a couple of minutes. Pour over the cooled cheesecake bars

As you can see, the cheesecake bars are a little over cooked. I left the house to go get something at the store and trusted my mom to take them out on time.. Big mistake, but I've learned my lesson. Anyways, spread the ganache out evenly and let sit to harden up. Cover and store in the fridge for 2 hours or over night. Cut into squares with a sharp knife and serve while cold

These were super good and I know have a cheesecake obsession. I'm going to go ahead and apologize because I'm going to be posting a lot of cheesecake recipes in the future

Ganache Marbled Cheesecake Bars

crust:

18 oreos

4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

filling:

3 oz. semi-sweet bakers chocolate, melted and cooled

1 egg

1 cup sour cream

12 ounces cream cheese, room temp

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

To make the crust, place the oreos in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until crushed; add butter. Pulse that together until combined and finely crushed. Press into a greased 8X8 baking dish. Cover and set in the fridge. Now prepare the filling. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute on high speed. Add the sugar and beat about another minute. Lower the speed and add the egg and vanilla until combined. Mix in the sour cream. Once you have melted and cooled the bakers chocolate, combine with 1/2 cup of the regular cheesecake batter. Pour half of the regular cheesecake mixture into the prepared and chilled crust; spread out evenly. Spoon half of the chocolate mixture over the plain cheesecake  and swirl in with a butter knife. Repeat with the remaining plain and chocolate cheesecake filling. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-50 minutes or until cooked. Take out of the oven and let cool. Prepare the ganache topping.

ganache:

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4- 1/2 cup half & half

Combine in a small microwavable bowl and heat until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. You may need to add more half & half to reach a pourable consistency. Let it cool a couple of minutes then pour over the cooled cheesecake bars. Cover and store in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight before cutting. Serve cold! 

Caramel Swirled Golden Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Today is national cream cheese brownie day, but I just decided to make cream cheese bars. That's close enough, right? It's a cream cheese I (Casey) have a new obsession with Golden Oreo's. If you have never had them, you should go buy them asap.. and make these cheesecake bars :) I loved these! There is something about cheesecake in bar form that is just amazing. It has the delicious texture and taste of a cheesecake without all the hassle of a cheesecake, even though baking is never a hassle to me! AND, I don't feel as guilty eating it.. Here's what you need for the cheesecake bars

Golden oreo's, butter, cream cheese, sugar, milk, egg, vanilla, and caramel sauce. Place some oreo's in a food processor

pulse until all oreo's are crumbly and completely ground up, then melt the butter and pour over the crushed oreo's

stir together and pour into an 8x8 inch baking pan. Press down evenly in the pan

In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese about 2 minutes and add the sugar

beat until fluffy and combined. Add the vanilla, egg, and milk

beat together until well combined, then add in the chopped oreos

fold in and pour over the prepared oreo crust

spread out evenly and pour the caramel over the cheesecake

Using a toothpick, swirl the caramel into the cheesecake

bake

cool on a wire wrack and chill before cutting

here's the chunky pieces of oreo

and the gooey caramel

I could seriously eat the whole pan of these. SO good!

Caramel Swirled Golden Oreo Cheesecake Bars
crust:
18 golden Oreo's
4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, soft
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 golden Oreo's, cubed
• caramel ice cream topping

Put the 18 oreo's in a food processor. Crush  until completely crumbly. Add the melted butter and stir until well combined. Pour into an 8X8 square baking dish, press down evenly with a spatuala; set aside. In a medium-size bowl beat the cream cheese for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Mix in milk, egg, and vanilla. Fold in the 8 cubed oreo's. Pour over the prepared crust evenly.  Next, drizzle the desired amount of caramel over the unbaked cheesecake bars. Using a toothpick, swirl the caramel into the cheesecake. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack until the cheesecake bars get to room temp. Cover and chill. Slice and eat!

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