High Altitude Red Velvet Cheesecake
Moist red velvet cake, creamy no bake vanilla cheesecake, and a dark chocolate Oreo crust make the most striking layers in this red velvet cheesecake.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Crust
- 20 Oreo cookies
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Red Velvet Cake
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp "super red" gel food coloring
Cheesecake
- 20 oz (2 1/2 blocks) cream cheese, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy whipping cream,
Instructions
Getting Ready
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick baking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- Baker's Note: I used a 9-inch cake pan in the photographed cake. An 8-inch pan will make slightly thicker layers, and the cake will need to bake a few minutes longer.
Oreo Crust
- Scrape the filling out of the Oreos. You will only be using the chocolate cookies, and not the white filling. Use a small food processor to finely crush the cookies into crumbs.
- In a bowl, combine the crushed cookies with the salt, then add the melted butter until moist and crumbly.
- Press the cookie crumbs firmly into an even layer against the bottom of the pan, then set aside.
Red Velvet Cake
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until smooth, about 15-20 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, right on top of the chocolate cookie crust. Bake the cake on the center rack for about 40-42 minutes for an 8 inch pan, or about 35-38 minutes for a 9 inch pan, until the center springs back when lightly touched and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, or with moist crumbs clinging to it. It's normal for the center of the top of this cake to look a little wrinkled. Set the pan on a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes.
- Set the pan in the refrigerator, and cool completely, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. When you're ready to add the cheesecake layer, turn the cooled cake out onto a serving plate or cake pedestal, with the chocolate crust on the bottom and the cake on top. If needed, slice a small portion of the domed center off the top of the cake to keep it level.
- Note, if you plan on keeping leftovers in the refrigerator for a few days, brush the cake with 3-4 tbsp milk to keep it really moist, before adding the cheesecake.
Cheesecake
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand held electric mixer), beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.
- Add the vanilla bean paste and the cold heavy whipping cream. Beat on medium high speed for 1-2 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl down several times, until very smooth, fluffy and thick enough to hold its shape.
- Pile the cheesecake on top of the cake and spread it out with an offset spatula, making it smooth or swirly on top.
- Or, fit a disposable 16-inch piping bag with tip 1M, and fill half full with the cheesecake filling. Pipe swirls on top of the cake, refilling the piping bag as needed. See this black and white chocolate cheesecake for an example.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container or cake carrier until ready to serve.
Notes
The cake should be served chilled, and leftovers stored in a cake carrier, in the refrigerator, for up to 3-5 days.
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