Red Velvet Cheesecake

Luscious, thick and creamy Red Velvet Cheesecake has a beautiful tang and classic red velvet flavor. Perfect for a special party or Valentine's Day! Step-by-step photos help you bake the perfect cheesecake recipe!

I don't know about you but the thought of visiting a restaurant on Valentine's Day does not make me feel loved and happy. I guess because I worked Valentine's Day for 15 years, I know first hand how crazy busy restaurants are. I would much rather celebrate at home. For a small, easy dessert I prefer to make chocolate lava cakes. But if you want something that serves a few more, for say a Galentine's Party or a dinner party this cheesecake would do the trick.

This cheesecake is also fabulous for the rest of the year, but the rich red color is perfect for Valentine's Day.

If you look up a red velvet cheesecake recipe you'll find many red velvet cakes with a plain vanilla cheesecake stuffed in the center of the cake layers. That looks good and all but I wanted to basque in the gloriousness of a proper cheesecake. No cake necessary!

Let's get to the recipe.

What are the Ingredients?

Making a cheesecake recipe does require a few ingredients, especially if you want to top it with something, but I promise it is so worth the effort.

For the crust, I stuck with a simple Oreo crust. You only need Oreos and butter that has been melted. Easy Peasy!

The cheesecake filling requires a few more things:

• Cream Cheese. It is imperative to have your cream cheese completely softened to room temperature. To do this quickly I place the cream cheese (still wrapped in its packaging) in a large bowl and fill it up with warm water and let sit for 10 minutes. You don't want to microwave your cream cheese because most likely it will become too soft.
• Sugar. We don't want an unsweet cheesecake so make sure to use granulated/ or caster sugar.
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. You only need a little bit, but be sure to sift it, or else you risk having lumps in your cheesecake, the horror!
• Buttermilk. A lot of my cheesecake recipes call for heavy cream but since this was red velvet flavor I swapped the heavy cream for buttermilk.
• Buttermilk Powder. Adding this concentrated buttermilk powder helps create even more of a tang.
• White Vinegar. Classic red velvet always includes white vinegar, while this normally is used in a traditional cake to help with the activating the leavening agents, since we don't need to do that for a cheesecake the vinegar just acts in assisting the tang factor.
• Sour Cream. The addition of sour cream helps soften the texture from all of the cream cheese. You could also use Greek Yogurt.
• Vanilla Extract. Make sure you use the pure stuff, imitation is not worth your time!
• Red Food Coloring. It wouldn't be red velvet without the color red. I use this red food dye that is a gel and I find you need less and it performs way better than the liquid stuff you find at the grocery store.
• Large Eggs. Eggs perform two jobs in baking a cheesecake. First helps create a lusciously smooth texture and then helps thicken the cheesecake. As always make sure your eggs are at room temperature. To do this quickly place your eggs in a bowl and fill it with warm water, let sit for 10 minutes.

Now many people like a cream cheese frosting, and while generally, cream cheese frosting is not as sweet as a buttercream, I wanted something even less sweet. I didn't want it to compete with the cheesecake, I wanted it to complement it. So I made a cream cheese whipped cream to place on top.

• Cream Cheese. Again, it is crucial to have your cream cheese completely softened to room temperature.
• Sugar. While a lot of American frostings or whipped cream recipes call for powdered sugar because we are mixing this with cream cheese we can use Granulated or Caster sugar.
• Buttermilk Powder.  Adding this concentrated buttermilk powder helps create even more of a tang, I do this on my carrot cake recipe.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Make sure you use the real stuff, imitation is not worth your time!
• Salt.  Just a pinch to balance everything.
• Cream. Since this is a whipped cream frosting you'll need heavy whipping cream or double cream.

How to Make Red Velvet Cheesecake

First things first preheat the oven. An improperly heated oven could cause the whole bake to be ruined. Preheat oven to 325F/162C. And lightly grease an 8-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

In a food processor or large plastic bag with a rolling pin crush the Oreos until a fine crumb appears.

Then in a large bowl pour the crushed Oreos in and melted butter, mix to combine.

Pour crumbs into the pan and press into the bottom and slightly up upsides of the pan. I use my clean hand but you could use the bottom of a measuring cup.

Place in the oven to bake for 5-8 minutes, just until set and the sheen of the crust has gone. Let the crust cool while you make the filling.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the cream cheese for 2 minutes on medium-low speed. If your cream cheese is not fully softened to room temperature it will not be smooth, so please please soften it all the way!!

The cream cheese should be incredibly smooth.

Add the granulated sugar and beat for another minute, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mixing the cream cheese and sugar together first will really loosen the cream cheese.

Make sure to sift the cocoa powder into the cream cheese mixture. If you don't you risk clumps of cocoa powder which will not make for a pretty dessert!

Add cocoa powder, buttermilk, buttermilk powder, white vinegar, sour cream, red food dye, and vanilla extract mixing until fully combined on low speed. Again make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl, since we are dying this red it will be pretty obvious if something is not fully incorporated.

Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until just combined, do not over mix.

You should have a creamy batter with no lumps. You don't want to overmix the batter because you'll add to much air which can create cracks!

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Create a water bath by placing the 8-inch pan in a 9-inch (or 10-inch) cake pan- place cake pan in roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water halfway up the sides of the cake pan. This prevents ANY water from getting in the cheesecake and you don’t have to wrap everything with aluminum foil.

Of course, feel free to sub foil for the large cake pan.

Bake the cheesecake 60 to 75 minutes, the inch or two in the middle of the cheesecake should jiggle just a little bit. The internal temperature of the cheesecake should be 150F/65C I use my Therampen MK4 to check.

Turn oven off and let cool in the oven for 1 hour then take out of roasting pan and let cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes to an hour. Finally, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Take the cheesecake out of the fridge, there may be moisture that has dropped on top of the cheesecake just use a paper towel to gently soak it up.

Use an offset spatula to gently loosen the crust from the side of the pan, then release the springform pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or large bowl with a handheld electrical whisk beat the cream cheese for a minute or two until softened. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar, buttermilk powder, vanilla, and salt and whisk for another minute or two to combine.

With the mixer on low gently stream in the heavy cream, once all added increase the speed to medium-high speed for a couple of minutes. When whipped and light, stop the mixer.

Spread a bit of the frosting on to the serving plate- this will help the cheesecake stick to the plate and not slide around. Use two spatulas underneath the cheesecake to lift it from the bottom pan of the springform pan and place it on the prepared plate.

You can pipe it on or just use an angled spatula like I did to create swirls on top of the cheesecake layer. Store the cheesecake inside the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.

To slice the cheesecake make sure to wipe the knife clean after each cut.

There you have it, another beautiful cheesecake.

If you're looking for more holiday-inspired cheesecakes check out my Gingerbread Cheesecake, Guinness Cheesecake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, or my Lemon Curd Cheesecake I make every Easter!

And for a simple classic don't forget my New York Cheesecake Recipe!

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