This Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake is my family’s favorite cake recipe ever.
Watch the video showing you how to assemble this Red Velvet Cheesecake cake. Then scroll to the very end of the post to print out the recipe so you can bake it at home.
If you’ve ever been to The Cheesecake Factory, and if you’re a Red Velvet Cake Fan… you’ve probably ordered up the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake.
It’s kind of the most amazing thing ever… a red velvet layer-cake with a layer of cheesecake mixed in… topped with cream cheese icing.
It really is the most beautiful cake to bake for special occasions. It’s impressive looking, and it’s always well received by your guests. It’s delicious too!
How to Make A Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake:
It starts with a half-recipe for classic cheesecake, baked in a water bath (details in the recipe below). The red velvet cake is made in two 9-inch-rounds- made nice and flat and even on top with the aide of cake strips.
For ease of handling, the cheesecake layer is frozen. Then it’s sandwiched in-between the two cake layers. No frosting is needed in between layers.
First things first- you apply a crumb-coat of the cream cheese frosting. The crumb-coat is a very thin layer of frosting that you spread on all around the cake.
There is an absolutely fabulous video on how to apply a crumb-coat HERE. After the crumb-coating, you’ll refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes to set the crumb layer.
Next, you can add the rest of the frosting. Start with a generous scoop of frosting on top.
Just spread it on, or pipe it on, or decorate it how you wish. The crumbs are all tucked away in the crumb-coat layer, so you shouldn’t have any red crumbs floating around in your next layer of frosting.
There is another fabulous video showing how to apply a smooth layer of frosting to a cake HERE.
See? A nice, smooth layer of frosting without any red crumbs.
Add some decor to the top– piped on frosting or shaved white chocolate, as I added here.
To shave the white chocolate, I microwave a thick chunk of white chocolate for about 20 seconds to soften it up a bit, then use a potato peeler to shave/curl some decorative pieces. Then I just gently place them on top of the cake.
The thought of that red velvet inside is too much to bear… I can never wait to cut into this cake!!
The cake itself turns out super moist and tender and perfect.
The cheesecake layer softens up and is perfect and velvety in the center. It’s almost like a giant interior layer of frosting, except that when you bite into it you realize that it’s CHEESECAKE instead.
I don’t know if I’ve ever professed my love for cheesecake before, but for me it’s up there in my top 10 favorite desserts (along with Red Velvet Cake)… so this dessert is like the perfect thing for me.
Piece of Cake cookbook
Lots of folks buy those boxed cake mixes because they don’t want to bother with the mess of trying to make a cake homemade. This recipe comes from the most wonderful from-scratch cake book: Piece of Cake by Camilla Saulsbury.
Saulsbury’s cake recipes are all ONE BOWL recipes… this means no mixing things in separate bowls and no sifting. Her recipes do not call for any fancy flours and you will not need a heavy-duty stand mixer.
Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the cake recipes within this book:
- Traditionalists: Perfect Chocolate Bundt, Classic Vanilla Pound Cake, New York Style Crumb Cake
- For Trendsetters: Salted Caramel, Peanut & Chocolate Upside-Down Cake, Polenta Cake with Anise & Honey, 5-Spice Mandarin Orange Cake
- For Grown Ups: Tennessee Whiskey Cake, Champagne Pound Cake, Gingerbread Cake with Orange-Mascarpone Cream
- Little Ones: Cinnamon Graham Cracker Snack Cake, Strawberry- Peanut Butter Crumb Cake, Snickerdoodle Bundt
- For Hedonists: Caramel Cinnamon Roll Bundt, Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake, Hot Fudge Brownie Cake
- For the Health Conscious: Whacky Whole Wheat Banana Cake, Mixed Berry Spoon Cake, Whole Wheat Carrot Bundt
Saulsbury also includes recipes for homemade Vegan and Gluten Free cake mix. And all of her measurements include metric as well as standard (a world-friendly baking book). With 5-star reviews on Amazon, this is definitely a cookbook to have on your cookbook shelf!
If you like cheesecake cakes, you might also enjoy this pretty Raspberry Cheesecake Cake or my decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Cake.
Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake
Recipe Details
Ingredients
CHEESECAKE:
- Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated white sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
RED VELVET CAKE:
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1½ cups vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup (two 1-ounce bottles) red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- 2½ cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps
- Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
PREPARE THE CHEESECAKE LAYER:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a large roasting pan on the lower third rack of the oven. Place a kettle of water on the stove to boil. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Wrap a double layer of foil around the bottom and up the sides of the pan (you want to seal it so the water from the water bath doesn't seep into the pan). In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to mix the cream cheese- blend until it is nice and smooth and creamy. Mix in sugar and salt and blend for 2 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, blending after each addition. Finally, mix in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla. Mix until smooth. 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 (it will fill the pan surrounding the cheesecake). Pour enough water so that there is about an inch of water coming up the foil along the sides of the cheesecake pan. Bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes. It should be set to the touch and not jiggly. Remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan and let it cool on a wire rack for at least an hour. When it has cooled, place the pan into the freezer and let the cheesecake freeze completely. This can be done in several hours- or overnight.
PREPARE THE CAKE LAYERS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round metal baking pans (or spray with nonstick baking spray with flour). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar to the flour mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat for 1 minute, until blended. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pans, then invert cakes onto a rack to cool completely.
PREPARE THE FROSTING:
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla until it is smooth and creamy (do not over beat).
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
- 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 slide a knife under the parchment to remove the cheesecake from the pan. Peel off the parchment. Measure your cheesecake layer against the cake layers. If the cheesecake layer turns out to be a slightly larger round than your cake, move it to a cutting board and gently shave off some of the exterior of the cheesecake to get it to the same size as your cake layers. Place the cheesecake layer on top of the first cake layer. Place the 2nd cake layer on top of the cheesecake.
FROST THE CAKE:
- Apply a crumb coat layer to the cake- use a long, thin spatula to cover the cake completely with a thin and even layer of frosting. Be sure to wipe off your spatula each time you are about to dip it back into the bowl to get more frosting (this way you won't be transferring any red crumbs into the bowl of frosting). Don't worry at this point about the crumbs being visible in the frosting on the cake. When your cake has a thin layer of frosting all over it, place it into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to "set" the frosting. Once the first layer of frosting is set, apply the 2nd layer. Start by adding a large scoop of frosting onto the top of the cake. Use a long, thin spatula to spread the frosting evenly across the top and then spread it down the sides of the cake too. Because you applied a crumb-coat layer, you shouldn't have any red crumbs floating around in the final frosting layer. Decorate, as desired. I recommend white chocolate shavings (see *Tips below). Keep this cake refrigerated.
Video
Notes
- *For making white chocolate shavings: Purchase a hunk of white chocolate. Microwave the chocolate to soften it up slightly (15 to 30 seconds, depending on the size). Use a potato peeler to run down the side of the chocolate to create shards/shaves/curls of white chocolate. I like to shave it onto a paper plater and then just use the plate to slide the chocolate onto the top of the cake.
- *If you are serving this cake at a party, it's perfectly okay to leave the cake at room temperature for an hour or so while serving. Otherwise, keep it in the refrigerator. It also freezes perfectly! I made my cake one day and then just placed it as-is in the freezer and pulled it out the next day. It thaws quickly.
Sorry about the typos- I am still getting used to the touch screen. I just wanted to say my cheesecake us baking, so I’m pretty much just waiting to find out how it will turn out! The main reason I baked today instead of tomorrow was to spare myself the xhance to redo if my first attempt didnt work but I have a feeling it will!
Hi Lori! Thanks so much! I am siiiiiiiiiiiii excited… Heating my oven as I type:) will it be okay to keep it frozen until Friday, then? By the way I am going to use a 9×13 glass dish because I have no springform pan and so I am making the red velvet cake the same. I will grease, flour and use parchment paper to make handles for easy handling and transfer onto the first cake layer. Any suggestions you have I will take!
Hi everybody. I am making a red velvet cheesecake this friday. It will be my first cheesecake and I was just wondering, how log does it take for yhe cheesecake to thaw? I plan to bake the cheesecake tonight. I think I will assemble the cake around noon friday and it will be cut around 8 pm so do you think by then it will have thawed? Thank you!
yes, it thaws quickly!!
Just cut the cake and it is so beautiful I had to share it on my board. Thanks so much… can’t wait for my guest to arrive!!
I just made this cake for my Keno group dinner tomorrow night. I can’t wait to taste it. It is almost as pretty as yours. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
so happy to hear that! Hope everyone loves it!
Just made this cake for my daughters birthday. It was delicious and a hit! Very tasty and well worth the work. I would suggest leaving the cheesecake overnight. I only let it freeze for about 2 hours and it still soft and more difficult to work with since i did use a spring form pan larger than the 9inch cake pan, so i did have to cut it down. But it did work, and was also beautiful and tasted great!
agreed- yes. A frozen solid cheesecake is much easier to work with. Glad you enjoyed it!
I am going to make this cake for my husbands birthday. His favorite cakes are red velvet and cheesecake…what a PERFECT combination!!!! Do you think the cheesecake would be frozen after 2 hours???
Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Possibly- it may be firm enough to work with after two hours… depending on how cold your freezer is!
Hey I’m only a teenager but I’m obsessed with baking so when I saw this I really wanted to make it but did not have the time. I finally got a chance last night and I have to say that I actually got heartburn because I ate my piece of cake so quickly. Thank you for sharing this with your readers and I am now a rigorous reader of your blog 🙂
Hi, thank you for sharing this recipe. Can I leave this cake at room temperature for about 3 hrs?, I would like to take it to a party but there is no refrigerator, thank you so much in advance
Yeah, that should be fine. Assuming you don’t live in hot weather right now 😉
Do you cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap or anything when you put it in the freezer? Or just put it in as it is? And thanks, my boyfriend’s favorite cake is red velvet and his birthday is coming up so I now have the perfect cake to make him 🙂
If you’re just going to freeze it quickly, then placing into the freezer unwrapped should be just fine. If you plan to freeze it overnight or longer, go ahead and wrap it. Hope your boyfriend loves it!
My favorite is German Chocolate—be still my heart. Siiiiigh.
Is this one of the recipes that is in the book? Or is just the red velvet cake recipe in it?
No- the red velvet cake recipe is in there, and I used that to create this cheesecake cake.
It looks incredibly beautiful. I must say my first impression of the book was wondering whether it was a gimmick but the main selling point, this idea of convenience (and perhaps less washing up as well!) is a really good one.
No, totally not a gimmick. Camilla is an experienced cookbook author, and there are a zillion cake ideas in the book. Everything you can think of, really! What I’ve tried so far has been spot-on perfect.
I haven’t made this cake yet but it looks amazing! I have recently found this site and it is fantastic thank you so much!
I made this for Xmas and it was wonderful! I could not figure out how to upload a picture of it to post. Also, my red velvet layers turned out a bit dry. Any suggestions on how to fix that?
Dry layers… overbaking? Are you at high altitude?
This cake was absolutely amazing!! It was such a success yesterday at dinner!! This recipe looks involved, but its not really and I was surprised especially since it was the first layer cake I have made! My boyfriend said that it was the best dessert hes ever eaten, and that says a lot! Thanks for such an awesome recipe!!
I made this for Christmas Eve and it was such a hit! Everyone was so impressed. I can’t believe I was able to make it look just like the picture. What a great easy to follow recipe. I loved that I could make the cheesecake layer several days in advance. I will definately make this again! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! Yay!
Made this for work (with pressure from co-workers since i am the baker) and it was an instant hit with the day and night crew. Even had an offer to be paid to make it for a co-workers up coming event. Now everyone wants this recipe or for me just to keep making it 🙂 Glad i went out on a limb to try it, cant go wrong with this recipe.
wow! That’s so awesome to hear 🙂
I am attempting this cake for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The cheesecake layer is in the oven now. As soon as I saw this recipe, I couldnt wait to try it! Wish me luck haha!
can this be made without a roasting pan?! If so, how? thanks!
You just need a pan large enough to set the cheesecake pan inside of for the bath.
I made this cake this past weekend. It’s actually the first cake I’ve ever made. I about died when I took my first bite…it was heaven. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!
First cake ever?! Wow, so glad it was a success!
I made the red velvet cake cheesecake this past weekend with my boyfriend. It turned out wonderful! He loved shaving the white chocolate on top!
Yahoo! Glad to hear it!
OH YUM!! I made a chocolate turtle pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving and this one looks like it will be for Christmas. Thanks for sharing this delish recipe. 🙂
Im going to try to make this cake for my mother in laws holiday dinner. It looks delicious and would be so pretty for Christmas!
2 Loves baked into one. My all-time fav cake Cheesecake…next Red Velvet! As matter of fact I had a Red Velvet as my 1st wedding cake! So bring it on!