Red Velvet Cheesecake

Tyler and my wedding cake was Red Velvet, so needless to say, we love it... check out the new recipe I found on The Urban Un-Martha blog for Red Velvet CHEESEcake!!

Red Velvet Cheesecake

For the Crust:1 ½ cups Oreo cookie crumbs
¼ cup butter, melted
1 TBSP granulated sugar

For the Filling:3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup sour cream
½ cup whole buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 (1 oz) bottles red food coloring

For the Topping:4oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:1. Preheat the oven to 325F.

2. Stir together cookie crumbs (if you're making the crumbs at home from whole Oreo cookies, there's no need to remove the cream filling), melted butter and 1 TBSP sugar; press mixture onto bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan (it's fine if you have an 8-inch pan or a 10-inch one).

3. Bake the crust for 8 minutes, then take it out and leave to cool.

4. In a blender, add eggs, unsweetened cocoa, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar, cream cheese, and sugar. Mix until fully combined. I had to do mine in two batches, because my blender just couldn't contain all that filling.

5. Pour the mixed batter into a large bowl and add the food coloring. Mix well with an electric beater.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan with crust. Put it on a baking sheet (very important, in case you get any leaks!). Bake at 325F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300F, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm.

7. Turn oven off, prop open the oven door a little bit, and let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 more minutes. Then cover and chill for 8 hours.

8. For the topping: Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Remove cheesecake from refrigerator and spread topping evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of spring form.