Red Velvet Layered Cheesecake

One of my managers had her birthday this week, so of course I wanted to make her a cake. When I asked her what her favorite kind of cake was, she said she loved red velvet and cheesecake. That’s when I got the idea to make a red velvet cheesecake cake.

It’s a combination of my red velvet cake recipe and my cheesecake cake filling, and boy is it an amazing combination!

This cake essentially layers cheesecake between three, decadent rounds of red velvet cake.

Substitutions and Swaps – Red Velvet Layers

Below are some swaps and substitutions that you can make in this recipe.

• All-Purpose Flour: This recipe turns out best with AP flour, but you can use cake flour or gluten-free flour if needed.
• Granulated Sugar – If needed, you can use all granulated sugar and skip the brown sugar, but I recommend using both types of sugar if possible.
• Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter. You can also use vegan butter in its place!
• Whole Eggs – If you have an egg allergy, you can use 4 flaxseed eggs or 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce + 1 extra Tbsp baking powder.
• Buttermilk – You can also use full-fat yogurt, sour cream, whole milk, or an alternative yogurt or milk (almond, soy, oat) if you’re dairy-free.
• Vegetable Oil – Any flavorless oil will work in this recipe! You can use vegetable, canola, or even sunflower oil.

Substitutions and Swaps – Cream Cheese Frosting

• Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter. You can also use vegan butter in its place!
• Cream Cheese – If you don’t like cream cheese frosting, use additional butter in place of the cream cheese.
• Heavy Cream – Whole milk or alternative milk (soy, almond, oat) will work fine in this frosting recipe if that’s what you have on hand.

Red Food Coloring

When you make a red velvet cake, you expect it to have that gorgeous, deep red color when you cut into it. I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to achieve that using gel food coloring.

I prefer americolor, but any gel food coloring will work! If you don’t have gel food coloring on hand, you can also use liquid food coloring.

I’ve found that you need to use an entire bottle of liquid food coloring to get the deep red color, so be sure you have a full bottle if you go this route.

The Cream Cheese Frosting

This red velvet cake recipe would taste great with just about any frosting, but I wanted to stick with the classic combination of cream cheese frosting and red velvet cake.

My cream cheese buttercream is a dream to frost with. It’s thick, has great structure, and pipes like a dream. It’s wonderful for layer cakes because it is stiff enough to support the weight of the cake layers.

This cream cheese frosting recipe is also stiff enough to pipe a beautiful border around the top of the cake, which is exactly what I did for this cake!

Decorating This Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

While I love making challenging cake designs, sometimes it’s nice to just make a classic layer cake. I kept things simple with this cake and used crumbled cake tops to decorate the sides of the cake.

This cake decoration screams red velvet! It’s also super easy to make, and it gives the cake such a classic look.

Tips for Making the Best Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

• Properly measure your flour. Either spoon it into the cup measure, then level with a knife, or use a kitchen scale.
• Don’t overmix your batter! Mix at the speed the recipe recommends until the ingredients are just combined.
• Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature to help them mix together better.
• Don’t level your cake layers until they are completely cooled.
• Make sure your cream cheese frosting is the right consistency before frosting your cake! It will help give your cake proper structure and make it easier to decorate.
• If your cake layers turn out less than perfect, I recommend reading my cake troubleshooting guide to see where things might’ve gone awry.

Making This Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake in Advance and Storage Tips

I recommend making your cake layers in advance and freezing them. It breaks the process up and makes it more approachable.

You can make your frosting ahead of time, too, or save any leftover frosting! It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to a month. Be sure to give it a good stir once it thaws to get the consistency nice and smooth again.

A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. The frosting locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious!

If you cut into the cake and have leftovers, use any remaining frosting to cover the cut section to keep it moist and store it in the fridge for up to a week.

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this red velvet cheesecake recipe, please tag me @chelsweets and use the #chelsweets, so I can see your beautiful creations!!

And don’t forget to leave a comment below and/or a rating to let me know your thoughts.

Other Recipes You Might Like

For a walk down memory lane, here are the original photos of this cake from back in 2013!