I have one of the most delicious desserts in the world. Layered Red Velvet and White Chocolate Cheesecake. Also running around under the name of Red Velvet Cheesecake. And, yes, this is based on the delicious dessert by The Cheesecake Factory. While I haven’t gotten their recipe exactly (I can’t seem to shred white chocolate…though God have I tried), it’s pretty darn close. And much cheaper.
This recipe has everything:
Red velvet cake (very moist).
White chocolate cheesecake.
White chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Do I need to say anymore? I can’t even find the words to explain how delicious this is.
This is a LONG post. Sorry, but I included all the little tips that make it turn out perfectly. The entire recipe is 2 pages typed up. Yep. It’s in printable pdf at the very bottom, though, for your convenience.
This is 75% developed by myself. One of the red velvet recipes (yes, 1 of them) is from another site. I’ve included the link below. The rest is a combination of common cheesecake recipes, but I’ve added my own modifications. The same with the frosting.
Good news: It’s even more delicious than it looks…it takes a bit of effort to make.
Bad news: It’s ideally an overnight dessert (the cheesecake tastes better if it freezes overnight). Sorry. But trust me: it is SO worth it.
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If you don’t have a KitchenAid stand mixer, get one. Seriously. It is my number one kitchen product. I would trade any number of other items for this one single thing.
I also included the cheesecake pan I use (the exact one)…it’s great. Along with the 9″ pans I use and parchment paper. In case you weren’t familiar with parchment paper, just click to see what it looks like.
White Chocolate Cheesecake:
For the cheesecake, you’ll need:
Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
6 oz. white chocolate
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cheesecake is an interesting challenge. But if you don’t mind an extremely long post, I’m going to share the details of how I make it and how it turns out correctly. There are also quite a few pictures.
Red Velvet Cake:
The red velvet cake is next. There are actually two ways to do this.
1) You can use the boxed cake method with my adjustments. Pros: Easier! Cons: Not as moist.
2) You can make from scratch. Pros: Moist, delicious. Great, deep color. Cons: Takes a lot more effort.
I’ve included them both (in the printable PDF) so you can make your own decision.
The “from scratch” recipe is from: StuckAtHomeMom.
Please, please visit her site! It’s great. And I didn’t have to make a single adjustment to this cake. It was perfect as is. Though I did wince pouring in a cup and a half of oil. (The blood red pics are from the boxed cake mix; the deeper one is the “from scratch.”)
Also note the bread on the top of the finished cake. I usually make the cheesecake, cool it, and put it in freezer. Also on the first day I make the red velvet cake. If you leave it out with a piece of bread on top overnight, it will be just as moist in the morning. I swear. I looked up the science before I tried it because I didn’t believe it!
Then on day two, I assemble and frost.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
For step-by-step pics (though it’s not complicated), please visit “White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.”
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted lightly to remove any lumps
Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
12 oz. baker’s white chocolate
Prepare the frosting:
- Set out cream cheese and butter and allow it to warm to room temperature.
- Sift the powdered sugar.
- Cream together room temperature cream cheese and butter. Scrape down bowl and make sure there are absolutely no lumps.
- Melt chocolate in microwave- 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir well. Microwave in additional 15 second increments, stirring every time, until melted. Do NOT overheat. Allow to cool slightly.
- Add melted chocolate and vanilla to cream cheese and butter. Mix well.
- Add sugar gradually, beating well, until light and fluffy after each addition.
- Add sugar to desired sweetness; may not use all of the sugar.
Final prep:
Full assembly and final prep details are in printable PDF below. It’s not hard. Just remember to use the crumb coat!
Layered Red Velvet & White Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
White Chocolate Cheesecake
- 2 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 6 oz. white chocolate
- 2/3 C. granulated white sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/3 C. sour cream
- 1/3 C. heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Red Velvet Cake (option #1)
- 1 box red velvet cake mix just the dry mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 C. butter melted
- 1 C. milk
Red Velvet Cake (option #2)
- 2 & 1/2 C. flour
- 1 & 1/2 C. granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 & 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 & 1/2 C. vegetable oil
- 1 C. buttermilk
- 2 1 oz. bottles red food color
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tsp. white vinegar
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese softened
- 1/2 C. unsalted butter softened
- 12 oz baker’s white chocolate
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 2 & 1/2 C. powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
White Chocolate Cheesecake
- Mise en place. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Place a large roasting pan on the lower third rack of the oven. Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil.
- Grease a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Wrap foil around outside of pan (seal so water doesn’t get in).
- Microwave white chocolate morsels 30 sec. at 50% power. Stir. Repeat until melted. Do NOT overheat. Chocolate scorches easily. Cool 5 minutes.
- Beat room-temperature cream cheese for 2 minutes until smooth.
- Add melted chocolate. Beat until smooth, creamy, and light.
- Mix in sugar and salt and blend for 2 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
- From this point forward, only mix on low speed. Add eggs, one at a time, blending on slow speed after each addition.
- Blend in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla. Mix until smooth. For super “satiny” batter, beat an extra minute or two on low speed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Set the pan into the roasting pan in the pre-heated oven. Carefully pour the hot water from your kettle into the roasting pan, to about an inch of water coming up the foil along the side of the pan.
- Bake the cheesecake for 40 to 60 minutes. It should still wobble/jiggle just a little in the middle still.
- Turn off oven, leave door ajar, and leave cheesecake in oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place on wire rack. Cool completely.
- Place pan in freezer and freeze completely. (Tastes best if allowed to “set” overnight).
Red Velvet Cake (option #1)
- Preheat oven to temperature directed on box. Grease and flour two 9” round metal baking pans.
- In a stand mixer, mix together dry cake mix, eggs, melted butter, and milk. Mix according to package directions (usually 2 min. on high speed). Scrape sides and bottom at least once.
- Divide batter between two pans. Bake according to package directions. When toothpick comes out clean in center, remove from oven and place on wire rack.
- After 10 minutes, flip cakes out of pans and allow to cool completely.
Red Velvet Cake (option #2)
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9” round metal baking pans.
- In a stand mixer, (hand) whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt (all dry ingredients).
- Add eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar (all wet ingredients) to the flour mixture.
- Beat on low speed for 1 minute, until blended. Scrape down sides and bottom. Beat on high for 2 min. Scrape sides and bottom at least once.
- Divide batter between two pans. Bake according to package directions. When toothpick comes out clean in center, remove from oven and place on wire rack.
- After 10 minutes, flip cakes out of pans and allow to cool completely.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Set out cream cheese and butter and allow it to warm to room temperature. Sift the powdered sugar.
- Cream together room temperature cream cheese and butter. Scrape down bowl and make sure there are absolutely no lumps.
- Melt chocolate in microwave- 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir well. Microwave in additional 15 second increments, stirring every time, until melted. Do NOT overheat. Allow to cool slightly.
- Add melted chocolate and vanilla to cream cheese and butter. Mix well.
- Add sugar gradually, beating well, until light and fluffy after each addition. Add sugar to desired sweetness; may not use all of the sugar.
Assembly & Frosting
- Horizontally trim the red velvet; the top needs to be flat. Also trim off a bit extra to get a good cake/cheesecake ratio. Set aside what you trim (going to use it for decoration).
- Place one cake layer into the center of a cake plate or platter. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, take off the sides of the pan, and remove the cheesecake. Place on top of the red velvet layer.
- Add the second red velvet layer on top. Trim the excess cheesecake off (as it will probably be a slightly larger round than the cake).
- Apply crumb coat. Use a long, thin spatula to cover the cake completely with a thin and even layer of frosting. (Be careful not to get red velvet crumbs into the frosting bowl). Some crumbs will be visible on cake. After a thin layer is all over cake, refrigerate for 30 min. to allow the frosting to set.
- Apply “actual” frosting coat. Using a large spoon, put scoops around the edge of the top. Use a long, thin spatula to spread frosting down sides, smoothing. Smooth top. (Because you applied a crumb-coat layer, you shouldn’t have any red crumbs showing now!).
- Decorate: use excess red velvet cake and sprinkle crumbs on the top of the cake.
Southern Living magazine had a 5 layer Red Velvet White Chocolate Cheesecake, three layers of red velvet, two layers of cheesecake, on their December cover about 5 years ago. I made it and frosted it with White Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream Frosting that I created. I covered the top of the cake with crushed peppermint candies. I took it to a holiday party of one of my bridge groups. It was a hit. I loved the mint with it, it kind of offset the richness of the cake. I swear the thing weighed about 10 pounds and was about 9-10 inches tall. I have made it one other time since then. I like that your recipe is only 3 layers, so it does not take as much time to make. I will try it with the from scratch cake recipe.
I got the original idea of layering white chocolate cheesecake and red velvet from that issue of Southern Living! I wasn’t happy with their recipe, hence me deciding to develop my own cheesecake and own cake.
But your idea is fabulous! I do a lot of peppermint stuff for Christmas. I might have to use your idea! Do you have a website you would want me to link to, so I can at least credit you with the idea of adding/subbing peppermint?
Is it possibly to use a different brand of white chocolate other than bakers? Will ghirardelli white baking chips work as well?
Baking chocolate generally has much less sugar than regular chocolate (including Ghirardelli white chocolate baking chips…which I also love!). Since you’re using it for frosting, which naturally includes a lot of sugar), you should be fine. You might want to use less sugar. But the frosting is really “to taste” anyways…so the amount of sugar isn’t set in stone!