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 30-35 minutes. 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.