RED VELVET CHEESECAKE!!!!

RED VELVET CAKE:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, 
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
red food coloring gel, add till right shade of red
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons white vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
Grease and line  two 9-inch round metal baking pans with parchment and grease again.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Add eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar to the flour mixture. Beat until blended well.  Divide into the pans and bake approx 30 minutes.  Cool and then flip out.  Freeze until ready to use. 

CHEESECAKE:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

I LIGHTLY BUTTERED A 9-INCH SPRINGFORM. WRAP IT IN FOIL AND PLACE IN A LARGER PAN FOR A WATER BATH. ONCE READY TO BAKE, FILL THE PAN WITH HOT WATER SO IT COMES 1 INCH UP THE SIDES OF THE PAN. PREHEAT 350.

BEAT 1 PACK OF CREAM CHEESE WITH 1/3 SUGAR & CORNSTARCH ON LOW 3 MINS. ADD THE REST OF THE CREAM CHEESE AND BLEND. TURN MIXER TO HIGH AND ADD THE REST OF THE SUGAR. ON MEDIUM, ADD THE EGGS, VANILLA AND HEAVY CREAM AND COMBINE JUST UNTIL BLENDED. BAKE 60-75 MINUTES. MINE TOOK 75MINS LAST TIME I MADE THIS AND 90 MINS THIS TIME SO CHECK CAREFULLY. COOL AND THEN CHILL FOR HOURS OR OVERNIGHT.


CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla
Beat all in an electric mixer until well combined.

Assembly: 
I wanted the red velvet layers thin, so I sliced each one in half.  Use the cut parts to crumble and attach to the sides of the cake after frosting is on!  Or, keep the layers thick if you prefer!  Place one red velvet layer on a plate. Top with cheesecake layer.  Place next red velvet on top.  Frost entire cake and apply cake crumbs to sides.   Chill and slice! 

RED VELVET & WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

 

 

For these cookies, I tried 3 types of white chocolate. I used Ghirardelli chips, a Ghirardelli bar and a bakers thicker bar.  All baked up equally well, so choose the one you like best!

red velvet & white chocolate cookies

 Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Red food coloring liquid or gel
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugars.  Add egg and vanilla.  Add all dry ingredients, along with a lot of red food coloring to reach the shade of red you like. I used the wilton gel so I would need less.  Stir in chocolate chips or a white chocolate bar that you've chopped.  Bake 7-10 minutes at 375 on parchment lined cookie sheets.  Cool.

adapted from The Curvy Carrot

RED VELVET BROWNIES WITH CHEESECAKE SWIRL

DOESN'T THE SWIRLED TOP MAKE YOU SMILE?WANT A BAR? RECIPE: (ADAPTED FROM A FEW DIFFERENT WEBSITES)

LINE AN 8X8 PAN WITH NONSTICK FOIL AND PREHEAT OVEN TO 350.

1 stick (4 ounces) salted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 T. red food coloring (i used a big blob of the colored paste)
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Layer:
8 ounces soft cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Brownie: Add melted butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, food coloring. Whisk in the eggs. Fold in the flour until combined. Spread in the pan and reserve 1/4 cup of the batter for the swirl.

Cream cheese layer: Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a toothpick, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. Chill and then cut. Mmmmmmm!

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

MOVE OVER CHEESECAKE FACTORY...........

RED VELVET BROWNIE LAYERS (two 9-INCH LAYER)

2 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 T. cocoa powder
4 T red food coloring (I used red food color paste so in that case, less than 2T)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray two 9-inch round pans, line with parchment and spray again. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, food coloring and vanilla to form a paste. Set aside.
In a mixer, cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Add eggs. On low, mix in the cocoa powder paste, flour and salt. Mix only until combined. Spread evenly in the pans and bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Crustless Cheesecake portion:

2 sticks softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
4- 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1- 3 oz. package cook and serve vanilla pudding
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9" pans with shortening, line the pans with parchment and then grease the parchment. Lightly flour the pans and tap out excess over the sink. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add cream cheese a little at a time until smooth. Scrape bowl down and beat again on medium speed, adding eggs one at a time. Add remaining ingredients. Mix again until smooth. Divide batter evenly between pans. You should have 8 cups of batter, so 4 cups in each pan. Smooth batter with offset spatula and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour. Cheesecake will puff up during baking, then deflate when taken out.

Do not turn out cheesecakes when they are finished baking. Put them directly in the freezer, and leave until frozen solid. Turn out frozen cheesecake layers and peel parchment from the bottoms. Line the pan they were in with enough parchment or wax paper to hang over the sides of the pan. Place the cheesecakes back in the pans. Keep in fridge until ready to layer.

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White Chocolate Frosting: You may have extra depending how much frosting you like in your layers. I have also skipped this layer and instead made a whipped cream and folded in some white chocolate. Just another idea!

2 sticks butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp. vanilla
8 ounces white chocolate, melted (melt slowly & carefully in microwave)
3 tablespoons milk (approx.)

Cream butter in mixer till fluffy. Add vanilla. On low, mix in powdered sugar, then white chocolate. Add milk to reach desired consistency. Whip on medium a few seconds till fluffy.

Assembly-place cheesecake layer on platter first. Spread with frosting. Then top with red velvet brownie layer. Repeat frosting and layers. Top the cake with extra frosting or just powdered sugar. Serve with a nice big dollop of whipped cream. YUMMMMMMMY!!!!!!!

Recipe shout outs to http://thatskinnychickcanbake.blogspot.com/ and http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-cup-chocolate-cake.html and http://cookiesxo.blogspot.com/

LINKING UP AT http://www.thirtysixthavenue.com/ AND http://deelicioussweets.blogspot.com/2011/08/deessert-blog-hop.html AND http://mangoesandchutney.com/2011/08/fat-camp-friday-40-cranberry-chicken-salad.html AND ALLI N SON AND http://www.makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.com/melt-in-your-mouth-monday-26/ AND http://www.thesaturdayeveningpot.com/ AND http://permanentposies.com/ AND http://creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/

RED VELVET BROWNIE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Red Velvet Brownies!!!! 

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Frosting

1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 T. cocoa powder
2 T red food coloring (I used red food color paste so in that case, less than 2T)

Preheat oven to 350. Line 8 x 8 pan with nonstick foil. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, food coloring and vanilla to form a paste. Set aside.
In a mixer, cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Add eggs. On low, mix in the cocoa powder paste, flour and salt. Mix only until combined. Spread evenly in the pan and bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. At this point you have delicious CHEWY brownies. Serve as is or with powdered sugar if you want. Or...to guild the lily, proceed to white chocolate frosting!

White Chocolate Frosting:
Frosting:

1 stick butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I sifted this through a fine colander to reduce lumps)
1 tsp. vanilla
4 ounces white chocolate, melted (melt slowly & carefully in microwave)
1/2 tablespoon milk (I added a little more to thin it out-eyeball it)

Cream butter in mixer till fluffy. Add vanilla. On low, mix in powdered sugar, then white chocolate. Add milk to reach desired consistency. Whip on medium a few seconds till fluffy! Spread on cooled brownies. Chill and then cut! Take a picture for the bake along album!!
Recipe adapted from my friend at ThatSkinnyChickCanBake.blogspot.com

Guess what kind

of cake this is!