Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

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New York Cheesecake between two layers of red velvet cake

I am in love with this cake!

Red velvet. Yes.

Cheesecake. Yesss.

Cheesecake sandwiched between two layers of red velvet cake topped with cream cheese frosting. Hell Yesss!!

I made this for the first time almost a year back. As an experiment. I had a small 6 inch red velvet cake left from an order, and while thinking of ways to use it for our personal use, I wondered how a cheesecake layer sandwiched in between two red velvet cakes would taste. Turns out, after a quick google search, I had already been beaten to the idea. Thank You Cheesecake Factory! But that didn’t bother me- because I was going to make AND EAT a red velvet cheesecake cake! Who cares who thought of it first!

New York Cheesecake between two layers of red velvet cake

New York Cheesecake between two layers of red velvet cake

If you love cheesecake and if you love red velvet, you in all likelihood would love this red velvet cheesecake cake. We loved it. My parents and I enjoyed every bite of it. (I need to come up with a better, shorter name though- any suggestions?)

I had baked a New York cheesecake only once before and that was a while back. I could not find the recipe I used, but after going through several recipes I found this one and I knew I would not be disappointed. I was not.

For the red velvet cake I used a recipe I developed after several trials of a recipe I was already using. Red velvet was one of my most popular flavors when I was running TPC and this recipe was made almost every day. I love the moistness that oil gives to a cake, but I also love the taste that butter brings with it. A combination of the two worked well for me and my customers and thats what I use in this recipe.

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Rhubarb Crumb Cake

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Rhubarb Crumb Cake

I have had eyes on this crumb cake for almost 7 years (or maybe more). If you have the memory of an elephant (and have been reading all my posts) then you would probably remember me mentioning that Smitten Kitchen was one of the first blogs I started following. This was much before I started my own blog. Around the time I was introduced to her blog, I stumbled upon her rhubarb crumb cake post. With one third cake and two thirds streusel topping, I knew this was a cake for me.

It took Deb eight months to make the cake after getting her hands on the recipe. It has taken me 7 years. When I first saw the recipe I was still living in India. I am not sure if it is available now, but 7 years back rhubarb wasn’t a fruit you got in India. It did not strike me that I could just use strawberries and still have a big crumb coffee cake, or probably it did but I wanted a rhubarb crumb coffee cake and let the recipe be. So instead of going with another fruit, to get my fix of this big crumb coffee cake I would just open Deb’s site and drool over the pictures.

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Even after moving to the US, being in a small town in Arizona I would always miss out on rhubarb season and the chance of baking this cake. When I saw rhubarb in the market in Dallas, I had no doubt that I would finally be making the cake I have dreamt of making for so many years now. And I am so glad I did. This cake did not disappoint.

The crumb is the best part and it does make a lot of the cake. When I was scraping the batter in the pan I was surprised at how little the quantity was and was afraid that it would be just crumb. Fortunately the cake does rise in the oven and I had a good ratio of cake to crumb.

This cake would be perfect for Mother’s Day this weekend. Can’t find rhubarb? Make it with strawberries. I would go ahead to suggest to add strawberries along with your rhubarb too if you wish. Deb suggests blueberry, raspberry, sour cherry or any other tangy fruit filling. In case using a different fruit, you will need to adjust the sugar level accordingly. Rhubarb being more tart needs more sugar.

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Talking about Mother’s Day, I thought about doing a round up of a few recipes on the blog that are courtesy my mom.

My love for baking stems from the countless home made cakes my mom baked for us when we were growing up. Her constant experimentation in the kitchen and whipping up dishes we had never heard of but loved eating is why all of three of us (my dad, brother and I) have such a love for food. These are some of her most asked for recipes and I have rounded them up for Mother’s Day for you. They would be perfect for Mother’s Day brunch or for any other occasion or even for a weeknight meal. (Click on the picture or the title for the recipe)

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Perfect Pound Cake

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Classic Pound Cake | The Novice Housewife

There is nothing better than a slice of well baked cake. While I am all for frosting, sometimes only a plain pound cake will satisfy my need for something sweet. The past few days I have been craving a plain buttery cake but refrained from baking one, to keep my calorie intake in check. As you can see that resolve was broken pretty easily.

We have had rains this entire week in Dallas. There is something about rains that demands baking and the smell of freshly baked cake in the house. After a day of trying to fight the urge, I finally gave in and decided to get my whisk out and bake a buttery cake. Since a no frills cake was on my mind I thought of using the Tish Boyle’s Luxe Pound Cake recipe that is in the blog archives and have baked from many times with excellent results. Its a rich, buttery pound cake with a tight crumb. The only problem was that the recipe calls for more than 5 eggs, so does the Scandinavian gold cake recipe which was my second choice and is equally good. I only had 5 eggs in my pantry and since it was raining, a walk to our neighborhood store was not possible (I need to get an Umbrella or a rain coat soon). I did not want to halve the recipe and take chances. Instead I stumbled on another one of Tish Boyle’s recipe on Shirley’s site Kokken. And I am glad I did and thank Shirley for posting it.

I haveTish Boyle’s cookie cookbook: The Good Cookie  but after trying a few of her cake recipes I am inclined to add The Cake Book by Tish Boyle to my collection. She is the queen of pound cake for me.

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