Red Velvet Cheescake {Minis and Pops}

Recipe adapted from Myrecipes.com

I love red velvet. and I love cheesecake. So of course, I would love the lovechild of both. I wanted to take a stab at making my favorite cheesecake from scratch. The results: heaven. To make it my own, I turned the cheesecake into mini cheesecakes and mini cheesecake pops!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
2 (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring

Frosting:

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute

Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined.

Now here is where it diverges

{Minis}

I used a mini cupcake pan and mini cupcake liners. I put 1 tsp of graham crust in each cup.

Then I poured 1 tbsp of the cheesecake mixture into the pan.

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Bake with the rest of cheesecake for pops below. Take minis out before the pan below. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

Beat 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Pour into a icing bag. Pipe onto mini cheescakes.

{Pops}

Pour rest of the mixture from above into a 9'' pan (without crust)

Use a scoop to scoop out balls for the pops. It will be mushy, don't try to roll them. Just release from the scoop. You will roll them in graham cracker which will help provide the shape.

Roll in leftover graham cracker mixture to add firmness and shape. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

The baking supply owner provided this tip for melting chocolate. He advised to melt chocolate in hot water for best results. He was right - not using a microwave again! I put the bowl of white chocolate into the red bowl filled with hot boiling water.