This Red Velvet Cheesecake is an easy from-scratch cheesecake that is velvety smooth and loaded with rich red velvet flavor. It has a thick chocolate oreo crust and is topped with a cream cheese whipped cream.
Grease the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the sides with parchment paper strips.
Add the oreo cookies in a food processor and pulse until all of the cookies are fine crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, you can place the cookies in a storage bag and crush them with a rolling pin. I prefer not to do this because the cookie filling sticks to the bag instead of getting worked into the crumbs.
Add the butter to the cookie crumbs and pulse until the crumbs are coated with butter.
Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Place in the fridge to set up while you work on the cheesecake.
Cheesecake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, add in the cream cheese. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until creamy. Scrape down the bowl.
Add in the sugar and cocoa powder and continue to beat until incorporated.
Addin the vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time. Beat in each egg until incorporated and then add the next. Scrape down the bowl.
Add in the sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, and red gel food color. Beat on medium until all of the ingredients are worked into the batter. The batter should be a deep red color.
Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
Place the springform pan in a slightly larger pan to prevent water from the water bath leaking into the cheesecake. You can also double wrap the springform pan with heavy-duty tin foil instead.
Place the two pans or foil-wrapped springform pan in an even larger pan. Fill the largest pan with about 1 inch of hot water.
Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until done. To test the recipe, gently jiggle the pan. The edges of the cheesecake shouldn't move and the center would slightly jiggle like jello.
Turn off the oven and open the door slightly. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for about an hour. Remove from the oven and if it's not cooled to room temperature let it continue to cool on the counter until it reaches room temperature.
Cover the cooled cheesecake and place it in the fridge overnight or for 8 hours until it's set up and chilled.
Whipped Cream
In a large bowl, add in the cream cheese. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the bowl.
Pour in the heavy cream and continue to beat until soft peaks form.
Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat until the whipped cream holds its shape.
Add the whipped cream to a piping bag with a wilton 1M piping tip and pipe swirls on the chilled cheesecake.