Red Velvet Cheesecake

Happy Birthday, Sis!

A few months ago, I asked my sister what birthday cake she wanted. She told me mango cheesecake. One, I hate mangoes; two, are mangoes even in season in the middle of December? Well, she said didn’t really have a preference, as long as it was cheesecake. I bookmarked this recipe a while ago, but I never got around to making it (like the other recipes I have flagged and bookmarked). It wasn’t until Annie had a recap post of holiday treats that I decided to make this once and for all.

I went to the supermarket the day before to pick up the remaining ingredients for baking. While I was about to open the door to the house, I realized I forgot the chocolate graham crackers! I didn’t want to go back to the store, so I thought about using the honey grahams I had in the pantry. In the end, I ended up running an errand near the supermarket so I went to pick up some crackers. They were not on sale…and it was too expensive at regular price…especially since I was only using 1/3 of a box. I bought a package of chocolate sandwich cookies since they were on sale. I remember Annie used chocolate sandwich cookies for the crust, and I also did that for the chocolate marble cheesecake I made a while, back so I knew it would work.

After mixing everything, I noticed that the batter for this cheesecake was a little bit runny. It could have been because I was not paying attention to the amount of buttermilk that was supposed to be added. I ended up adding 1 full cup of buttermilk so I tried to add 2 tablespoons of flour to try to thicken it up. There seemed to be a lot of batter, and when it was done baking, the cake rose up past the rim (but didn’t spill). Once it cooled down, it sunk back down.

After baking, I had to run, so I left it in the oven for a few hours to cool down, with a wooden spoon propping the oven door open. It still cracked (as in Grand Canyon crack!), as did my last cheesecake. Good thing there was frosting going over it!! I’m wondering if it was because I used my 10-inch pan for this again, since the 9-inch one I ordered didn’t arrive in time. Nonetheless, this still came out great, even though I made some mistakes. If I make this again, I’m definitely going to pay attention!

Red Velvet Cheesecake
adapted from: Southern Living, via Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

 printable recipe

ingredients:
18 chocolate sandwich cookies, crumbled
3 TBSP  butter, melted

cake:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2  cups  granulated sugar
4  large eggs, lightly beaten
3  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa
1  cup  sour cream
1/2  cup  whole buttermilk
2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
1  teaspoon  distilled white vinegar
2  (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring

frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4  cup  butter, softened
1  cup  powdered sugar
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Garnish: fresh mint sprigs (optional)

directions:
Stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter, press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.

Beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Beat remaining 4 oz cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of spring form pan. Garnish, if desired.