Red Velvet Cheesecake

I've had this recipe pinned on Pinterest from Recipe Girl for a while to make for today. I absolutely love anything that has to do with Red Velvet. And what's more festive than having a red dessert for Christmas? And a cheesecake at that. If you've ever eaten at the Cheesecake Factory and you love red velvet like I do, then I'm sure you know all about their Red Velvet Cheesecake. And so for this special day, I decided to make it for our families as one of our desserts.

This desert requires quite a few steps, and possibly 2 days to make because you have to freeze the cheesecake first, and do a crumb coat for the frosting. Then I used my own tried and true recipe for recipe for the red velvet cake part. Labor intensive, but the result was amazing. I first made this a few weeks ago to test out the recipe. Obviously, hubby and I couldn't finish the whole cake, so I sent half of the cake with hubby to work and it seemed to have gone over well with them. This is definitely going to be a repeat recipe for a special occasion like today.

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a blessed day full of love with family and loved ones.

Cheesecake
2 (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Place a roasting pan on the lower third rack of the oven. Heat 4-6 cups of water to a boil in the microwave or a kettle on the stove. Grease a 9-inch spring form pan and place parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double layer of foil to prevent water from entering the pan. Set aside.

2) In a bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in sugar and salt, and continue blending for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla and blend well until smooth.

3) Pour batter into prepared pan and place in the roasting pan inside the oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan enough so that it reaches about an inch on the side of the cheesecake pan. Bake for 45 minutes until the cheesecake is set and no longer jiggly.

4) Cool cheesecake on a cooling rack for at least an hour. Once cooled, place cheesecake in freezer until completely frozen, or overnight.

Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. (1 oz bottle) red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. white distilled vinegar

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour 2 9-inch  round pans and set aside.

2) Sift together cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, red food color, vanilla extract and vinegar in a large bowl of an electric mixer until well combined.

3) Slowly add dry mixture into wet mixture and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick test comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then completely cool on a cooling rack.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese frosting 
1 1/2 cups butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

4-6 cups powdered sugar

2-4 Tbsp. milk, depending on consistency

1) Cream the cream cheese with an electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add butter and beat for 1-2 minutes, until well incorporated.

2) Add brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.

3) Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat well. Continue adding powdered sugar and alternating with the milk until desired consistency.

To assemble the Cheesecake

1) Unmold the frozen cheesecake from the spring form pan. Place in between the two layers of cake. Apply a thin layer of frosting to act as a crumb coat on the layered cake. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes for the frosting to set.

2) Complete frosting the cake with a thicker layer of frosting and decorate as needed. You can decorate with white chocolate shavings. Keep cake refrigerated until serving.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Happy 1st of July!!! I can't believe that summer is in full swing. What a way to kick off the heat of the summer by baking cookies. lol! I had to crank up the oven today, because when I saw these cookies from The Novice Chef, I had to make them right away. I've often had chocolate crinkle cookies, but never a red velvet version. I didn't realize how simple these yummy cookies were. Everyone knows that I like to make things from scratch. But with the use of a boxed cake mix in this recipe, I think I can make an exception.

I used the crinkle cookie recipe on the side of the box from Duncan Hines. The only difference from the Novice Chef version is the addition of lemon zest and cornstarch. It gives the cookie an extra zing. This technique, however, can used with other boxed cake mixes like chocolate, lemon, or even funfetti (obviously, you'd omit the lemon zest if you were using the chocolate cake mix). This is a great recipe that you can quickly whip up when you have a cookie craving and have extra cake mixes on hand.

6 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 box Red Velvet cake mix
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Place confectioner's sugar and cornstarch in a shallow bowl and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, lemon zest and cake mix until there are no large lumps left.

3) Roll dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough) and coat in confectioner's sugar and cornstarch mixture. Place dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1-inch apart.

4) Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the tops have crackled and have set (the centers will still be gooey). Allow to sit for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Red Velvet Pancakes

I love anything that is Red Velvet. I've made Red Velvet Cake, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Red Velvet Brownies, and Red Velvet Cake Bon Bons. So why not Red Velvet Pancakes?

I first heard of the concept of Red Velvet Pancakes when I heard that The Buttermilk Truck served Red Velvet Pancakes. What an awesome idea. Unfortunately, I haven't caught up to the Buttermilk Truck, but I've been dying to have a taste of Red Velvet Pancakes. Then one day, I came across this recipe from Food Republic. I think it was time to finally make the breakfast version of this beloved dessert. Serve this with pancake syrup or cream cheese frosting, but this is a definite recipe to make if you are a Red Velvet dessert lover like me.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cocoa powder.

2) In another large bowl, beat egg, buttermilk, sour cream, food coloring, and vanilla extract until smooth. Slowly whisk in flour mixture into wet mixture, alternating with the melted butter. Whisk until all lumps are out.

3) Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and drop in batter about 1/4 cup at a time to form pancakes. When the bottoms are set and bubbles are forming on the top, flip pancake over to cook on the the other side. Serve warm with cream cheese frosting or syrup.

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This recipe popped up on my reader last week from Smells Like Home and I had to make it ASAP. It looked so sinfully delicious and Red Velvet is one of my favorite things to eat and make. I, luckily, had just enough flour left. Otherwise I would have to wait some more before I made this, lest I run to the store again for the upteenth time today. This recipe uses ALOT of red food coloring, unlike my go-to Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe, which only uses 1 ounce of red food coloring. So this brownie yields a very deep colored red velvet that is so hard to resist. Topped with the white chocolate buttercream frosting makes for a super yummy alternative to the brownie.

Brownies

3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 oz red food coloring

2 tsp. vanilla extract (divided)

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour a 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Set aside

2) In a small bowl, slowly stir together cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract into a thick paste until no lumps of cocoa remain. Set aside.

3) In a bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add in remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. With the mixer off, add cocoa mixture, then turn the mixer on to medium and beat until uniform in color. Turn mixer to medium-low and slowly add flour and salt. Mix just until combined. Do not overmix.

4) Remove bowl from mixer and stir batter with a rubber spatula once or twice to ensure flour has been thoroughly incorporated. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick test comes out clean. Completely cool brownies in the pan on a baking rack for about 45-60 minutes. Frost as desired (in the pan, or cut into 12 squares).

White Chocolate Buttercream frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 oz white chocolate, melted

1-2 Tbsp. heavy cream

1) In the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter until soft and fluffy on medium-high, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla. With the mixer on low, slowly add confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add melted chocolate and continue beating until well incorporated. With the mixer on medium, add heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 more days until Christmas! Yipee!!!

Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday. Spending time with family, gift-giving, eating, and being merry. That's what Christmas is all about. With our family, Christmas is a two-day affair. Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena, is the eve when we await the arrival of Christ. So its a huge celebration at my parents's house with lots of food and opening presents. Christmas day is spent at our house with my in-laws and we do it all over again with alot more food.

With that said, preparations have to start early. This year I decided to make a few desserts, one with this recipe from Beantown Baker for Red Velvet Cupcakes. I have another Red Velvet Cake recipe that I usually turn to, but realized, after trying other Red Velvet Cakes or cupcakes, that mine seemed a bit dry. I did make a batch of my original Red Velvet cake recipe to make Bon-Bons as well.

The first batch I made of this recipe today came out dry and somewhat chewy. So I trashed a whole batch. What a disaster. Luckily I had enough time and ingredients to make another batch. Then I realized that I had used regular all-purpose flour in the first batch instead of the cake flour it called for. So I made the 2nd batch correctly and it came out so perfect and so moist. I think I may have found a new red velvet cake recipe.

Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. (1 oz bottle) red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. white distilled vinegar

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line muffin pans with muffin cups.

2) Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a medium bowl. Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined.

3)Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Frost with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese frosting (recipe below)


Brown Sugar Cream Cheese frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4-6 cups powdered sugar
2-4 Tbsp. milk, depending on consistency

1) Cream the cream cheese with an electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add butter and beat for 1-2 minutes, until well incorporated.

2) Add brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.

3) Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat well. Continue adding powdered sugar and alternating with the milk until desired consistency.

Red Velvet Cake Bon-Bons

I got the idea of making bon-bons out of cake from a few websites that I visited. So I decided to make my own versions. Making cake bon-bons is pretty easy. And you don't even have to make the cake from scratch. You can buy any boxed cake mixes to make different varieties of bon bons, but make sure the frosting you use matches the cake. If you decide to make the cake from scratch, you should still use the store-bought frosting so that the bon bons have a longer shelf life.

This Red Velvet cake bon-bon was made out of my red velvet cake recipe. I'm not a chocolatier, so some of the bon-bons aren't so "pretty," but it still tastes awesome. If you're a huge fan of red velvet cake, like my sister is, you'll love this one. My sister ate up most of the batch and is begging me to make more. This was a huge hit when I brought some to my office. One of the guys at work even asked for my recipe so he can try to make it for his girlfriend for Valentine's day. How sweet!

Prepared Red Velvet cake
1 jar of store-bought cream cheese frosting
2 bags of white chocolate chips

1) Make sure the cake is completely cooled. Crumble cake in a large bowl. Mix in frosting until it is well incorporated and the consistency of the mixture is almost like play-doh.

2) Form 2-inch balls out of the mixture. Place cake balls on a pan, lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

3) Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir chocolate. Continue to melt chocolate in 30 second increments until the chocolate is smooth.

4) Dip cake balls in white chocolate. Return bon-bons on the wax paper. Cool in the refrigerator until chocolate hardens.

(White & Blue) Red Velvet Cake

Making my red velvet cake reminds me of my daughter. When I was pregnant with her, we decided to announce her gender during Christmas celebrations with each of our families. So I baked 2 red velvet cakes. We asked our parents to cut into the cake to reveal the gender of the baby based on the frosting in the middle of the cake - pink if it was a girl, and blue if it was a boy. Well, we all know how that turned out. Everyone was excited. It was a fun way to announce her coming.

My sister was craving red velvet cake last week. So in commemoration of the 4th of July tomorrow, I decided to bake it today......with blue frosting in the middle. And no, I'm not pregnant with a baby boy. ;)

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 oz red food coloring
3 tsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. butter flavoring

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans and set aside.

2) Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in food coloring, vinegar, butter flavoring and vanilla.

4) Add dry mixture into creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat until well incorporated.

5) Pour mixture into pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting (recipe follows).

FROSTING:

4 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

7 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.

*Set aside about a cup of the frosting and add your choice of food color to spread in between layers (today, I've added blue food color). The outer frosting will remain white.

(This frosting recipe will leave you with more than you need. You can use the remaining frosting as you see fit. enjoy!)

(recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)