Red Velvet Cheesecake

I love Red Velvet Cake...Red Velvet Cupcakes, Red Velvet Macarons...just about anything. Since yesterday was National Cheesecake Day, I thought I'd get a jumpstart on next year and post a recipe for Red Velvet Cheesecake. This recipe is easy and delicious! It does use red food dye, and I haven't figured out how to use beets in this recipe. You can always use Wilton's red, but it won't give you quite the same color. Sacrifices.  Have a look at my post Red Velvet the Natural Way. I think beets would change the flavor in the cheesecake. Cake is more forgiving.

The following recipe for Red Velvet Cheesecake is from Southern Living. I especially like the deep red of the red velvet cheesecake that's spiked with cocoa, the smooth creamy cheesecake layer on top, and the dark chocolate crust. I've made a few adaptations. Not everyone likes to add the frosting on top, but it really is yummy and is a great taste companion. You can always leave it off or reduce the thickness. My preference is to add the cream cheese icing.

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE
Prep: 20 min; Bake: 1 hr. 25 min; Stand: 1 hr; Chill: 8 hrs

Crust:
1 3/4 cups chocolate wafers whirled and crushed  (or 1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

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

Frosting:
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Stir together chocolate wafer crumbs (or chocolate graham cracker crumbs), melted butter, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
2. 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.
3. Bake at preheated over 325° for 10 minutes (if you're using a waterbath, be sure and preheat the waterbath when you preheat oven); reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. (For a really great cheesecake, bake in a water bath to avoid cracks.)  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.
4. Beat 1 (3-ounce) package 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 springform pan.

Decadent Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake: National Cheesecake Day

Today is National Cheesecake Day!

I mentioned a few posts ago how much I love Driscoll's Berries, and I posted their Mixed Berry Chocolate Molten Cake recipe. Their berries are always flavorful!

So here's another Driscoll's recipe that's perfect for National Cheesecake Day! Driscoll's actually sent this recipe for me to post. It's fabulous--and easy! I've tweaked the recipe just a bit, but not much. As always, use the very best ingredients--fresh cream cheese and high quality chocolate.

Decadent Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour 10 minutes

2  packages (8-oz each) cream cheese, softened
2  packages (8-oz each) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
4  large eggs
2  packages (6-oz each) Driscoll’s Raspberries
2  ounce bar of semi-sweet chocolate (65-70% fair trade cacao)

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch round springform pan.

Beat cream cheeses in a large bowl of electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla, starting on low speed then increasing to high, until thoroughly mixed.

Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping edges well after each addition. Pour into pan.

Bake about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until just barely set in center. Edges may crack slightly. Turn oven off and leave in oven 1 hour with door ajar. Remove from oven and cool completely.  Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Run a knife around edge and remove rim.

Top cheesecake with raspberries. Hold chocolate bar over cheesecake; firmly slide a sharp vegetable peeler along edge of chocolate allowing shavings to fall on cake.

Lighten Up:
Use four 1/3 less fat packages of cream cheese, or two 1/3 less fat and two fat-free packages. Cheesecake will be denser.


Healthy Tip:
Calorie and fat content of this cheesecake can be adjusted by using regular, low-fat, or fat-free cream cheese.

Looking for other Cheesecake recipes to celebrate National Cheesecake Day? I've posted quite a few.

Amaretto Cheesecake

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake

Addendum: Free or Cheap Cheesecake today! 

The Cheesecake Factory: promotion for National Cheesecake Day. Half Off Today! Also exclusive (printable) coupon for Facebook fans yesterday to receive cheesecake slices for $1.50.

Junior’s in Brooklyn: People who order lunch or dinner today get a free slice, and to celebrate the NYC institution’s 60th anniversary, a la carte cheesecake is only 60 cents a slice. Brooklyn only. No other locations.

Chocolate Lasagne: National Lasagne Day

Another day, another Food Holiday. Today is National Lasagne Day. I didn't make that up... but clearly someone did. I don't know the origin, but I do know that I love lasagne. All the food groups, pasta, cheese, and definitely some chocolate in both savory and sweet dishes.

Savory: Chocolate is a wonderful ingredient in tomato sauce, especially with lasagne. I'm not going to give you a recipe for tomato sauce, just some advice. Next time you make your sauce, after you brown the onions, cook the tomatoes and add your wine--well, I guess it depends on how you make your sauce, but you get the idea. When you're near the end of your preparations, add some tomato paste and about 2 ounces of very dark chocolate. You won't taste the chocolate per se as chocolate, but the chocolate will give your sauce a lovely and an excellent and different flavor. Don't overdo the chocolate. 2 ounces is just fine. You might want to add a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, too. Again, it depends on how much sauce you're making. And, as far as cinnamon and chocolate in savory sauces, my Mexican Mole includes both, so why not Italian pasta sauce?

Sweet:  I love food that represents something other than it is. I adore Chocolate Pizza, Chocolate Pasta dishes, Chocolate Salami, and I've posted recipes for them before. I'm pretty sure I've never posted a recipe for Chocolate Lasagne. George Duran (Ham on the Street/Food Network) has a great recipe for Chocolate Dessert Lasagne. The final product of the following recipe really looks like lasagne, and the extra bonus is that it's a great chocolate dessert and easy to make. I've tweaked it a bit, but it's pretty true to the original.

Chocolate Dessert Lasagna

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package no-boil lasagna noodles (this is a misnomer. You do boil them, but only for a minute)
2 pounds ricotta or Mascarpone
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mini dark chocolate chips
1 orange, zested
1/2 cup roasted pistachios
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely grated (make sure it's really white chocolate, and not an imitation)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles for 1 minute. Drain them and put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and lay on paper towels to dry.
Whisk together the ricotta (or mascarpone), sugar, cocoa powder, and eggs on medium speed with a hand or stand mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until it is well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest. 
Spread 1/4 of the cheese mixture into the bottom of an 8 by 8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle some of the pistachios over the top and press on a layer of noodles. Repeat, ending with the ricotta (or mascarpone) mixture and pistachios.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the lasagna has risen.
Remove the pan from the oven and evenly sprinkle the white chocolate over it. Let cool, cut, and serve.

I think chocolate bloggers must think alike, because Annmarie Kostyk, a major chocolate blogger, gave recipes for both savory and sweet chocolate lasagne in June. I must have missed that post, but you shouldn't. Her recipe for Annie's Dark Chocolate Lasagne looks fabulous. It's a little more labor intensive than the one above, but I can tell by the ingredients that the results will be wonderful. Lots of textures as well as a mix of flavors. She also posted a great Sicilian (savory) Chocolate Lasagna recipe, so if you don't know how to make a good sauce, try hers.

And, if you're following my Chocolate Blog, you should be following hers. Annmarie Kostyk, Chocolate Goddess.

Milk Chocolate Chip Pecan Pound Cake: National Milk Chocolate Day

July 28 is National Milk Chocolate Day, and even though Milk Chocolate is not my favorite, I think you're going to love the following recipe for Milk Chocolate Chip Pecan Pound Cake. I left the recipe pretty much as is since I did originally find it on the Hershey's Kitchens website, but, of course, feel free to substitute. It's actually quite awesome with dark chocolate chips, dark cocoa and rich dark chocolate syrup. Oops, reminder to self, this is MILK Chocolate Day.

Milk Chocolate Chip Pecan Pound Cake from the Hershey's Kitchens

Ingredients:
 2 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Chips, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (Margarine in original recipe as option. I don't ever use margarine)
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Dash salt
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
 Powdered sugar(optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan (bundt pan). Place 1 cup milk chocolate chips in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted when stirred.
2. Beat butter in large bowl until creamy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating on medium speed of mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add melted chocolate; beat until blended.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to chocolate mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until blended. Add syrup and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in remaining milk chocolate chips and pecans. Spoon batter into prepard pan.
4. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. 12 to 16 servings. (Who are they kidding? It's so good, it will be gone by 4-8 people in no time!)

*To sour milk: Use 1 tablespoon white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.

Confused about what Milk Chocolate actually is?  Take a look at last year's Post on Milk Chocolate Day.

Photo: Hershey's Kitchens