Ultimately, I loved every minute of this awesome journey into the world of Red Velvet Utopia. My Red Velvet Cookies are amazing; my Red Velvet Bars w/ Cream Cheese Frosting are the BOMB; and my Red Velvet Cheesecake is out of this world. In fact, after one bite I was convinced I had died and gone to heaven!! The layer of red velvet, combined with the chocolate and vanilla swirled throughout the filling, puts this cheesecake WAY over the top!!
For the Crust:
1 C. almond flour
1/2 C. pecan flour (or very finely ground pecans)
2 TBLS. white sugar substitute–granulated
2 TBLS. butter (soft; salted)
For the Cheesecake:
3 8-oz. packages (24 ounces) cream cheese (room temperature)
3 large eggs (room temperature)
1/4 C. sour cream
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
2 TBLS. almond flour
3/4 C. white sugar substitute (granulated)
2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. red food coloring (health food stores sell “natural” food coloring)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Mix the ingredients for the Crust and press into the bottom of an 8″ spray-greased springform pan (I forgot to spray mine!) Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
Reduce the oven temp. to 325F degrees. Mix the ingredients for the cheesecake and blend until it’s of a smooth consistency. Then transfer 1 & 1/2 cups of the cheesecake batter to a separate bowl and mix in the Red Velvet ingredients. Mix very well.
Pour the Red Velvet batter onto the crust. Then slowly pour the cheesecake batter on top of the Red Velvet batter. With a spoon, carefully scoop down into the red batter, then bring the red batter up to the surface of the cheesecake. Be careful not to scoop down to the crust layer. Do this several times all over the cheesecake.
Then take the tip of a butter knife and slide it back and forth through the batter. Turn the pan a quarter turn and slide the knife back and forth again. With both hands on the top edge of the springform pan, gently tap the pan several times against the counter top–that helps bring up to the surface any air bubbles in the batter.
To prevent the cheesecake from cracking during baking, pour about a half inch of HOT water into a large cake pan that’s big enough to hold the cheesecake pan. Mold a sheet of aluminum foil around the base of the springform pan (the foils should go up the sides about an inch.) Place the springform pan into the cake pan and gently transfer the two pans to the oven. Bake for 1 hr. & 10 minutes**. Then turn off the oven and allow cheesecake to reduce in temperature–while still in the oven–for another 30 minutes. **Note: when I make this cheesecake again, I might bake it for only 1 hr. and 5 minutes because the top looked a little over-cooked, although it didn’t effect the taste at all.
Remove cheesecake from the oven and slide a knife between the cheesecake and the pan–go around the entire cheesecake. Then place cheesecake in the fridge for at least 4 hrs. before removing the springform. Enjoy!!!
Ultimately, I loved every minute of this awesome Red Velvet journey. My Red Velvet Cookies are amazing; my Red Velvet Bars w/ Cream Cheese Frosting are the BOMB; and my Red Velvet Cheesecake –in fact, as I was eating it, I was convinced I had died and gone to heaven!!!
Anyhoo, I suppose it’s time to venture back into the real world. However, one never knows when I may take a little journey back to “The Center of . . . The Red Velvet Utopia.”
