The Baking Bible: 4th of July Cheesecake

A perfect showstopper of a cake, the 4th of July Cheesecake hits a home run on all counts. Lots of components but all pretty easy, make ahead so not too stressful, visually stunning, and super delicious.

Even though the recipe for the red velvet cake component comes first, the cheesecake really should be baked first as it needs 6 hours up to overnight in the refrigerator to firm up. My cheesecake needed to bake an extra 30 minutes to get up to temperature!

Mark was concerned since the cheesecake has more sour cream than cream cheese but I assured him he would like it anyway.

The Red Velvet cake component is just a little one inch high cake, baked in a ten inch cake pan and then trimmed down to nine inches after it cools.

Then there's all these shenanigans about inverting the cheesecake, inverting the red velvet cake, spreading jam on the bottom of the cheesecake (I opted for strawberry although the recipe calls for raspberry), reinverting the red velvet cake, placing it on top of the upside down cheesecake (on top of the jam), reinverting now the entire cake so the cheesecake is on top. It all goes pretty smoothly, just take it one direction at a time. Then a little more jam gets spread on the sides of the red velvet cake base to seal in the crumbs.

Then it is time to frost. I have never frosted a cheesecake before, but what the heck. The frosting in question is the Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. (Is that the real name? I have always called it the Dreamy Creamy Etc so I don't remember how many words come after.) This frosting is a super fancy version of cream cheese frosting. Butter, melted white chocolate, a little bit of sour cream and a bit of vanilla get blended in the food processor. And, done. I have been using El Rey's Icoa white chocolate and, oh my god, I can't recommend it enough. It is the best white chocolate I've ever had, better than Valhrona, plus the added important bonus of being from an environmentally and socially responsible company. You can find it at Chocosphere.com, if you're looking to try something amazing.

Anyways, the El Rey Icoa white chocolate made this version of the Dreamy Creamy Etc so delicious. I liked it with Green and Black's white chocolate but this time the frosting is something I think about off an on during the day.

So frosting the cake: first a crumb coat on the Red Velvet Cake, then after that firms up, the cake gets a frost. I kept the frosting to about 1/4 inch all around--which now I kind of regret as I love the frosting so much--and opted not to pipe shells around the top.

So then the cake firms up in the refrigerator while the fresh blueberry topping is made. It is super simple. Arrowroot, sugar, water, and lemon juice get cooked up in a pan until the mixture is clear, then the blueberries are tossed in and strained to get the extra goo off. Then the fruit is arranged on top of the cheesecake. Phew! All done. Have a slice of cake.

It sounds like a lot of steps and dirty dishes and pains in the asses, and it is. But when you start eating your slice of cake, or when you cut it open to reveal the stunning layers and your friends ooh and aah, then you will find yourself thinking about when you'll make it again.