red velvet cake with cheesecake middle and piped roses

My husband Grant's parents came from Hawaii to visit us for two weeks in March, and during their stay we celebrated his mom's birthday.  I know that she loves red velvet cake, and she also loves cheesecake, so I decided to make her a red velvet cake filled with cheesecake!  I had never even heard of this cake until I read about it last year at 17 and baking (love her site!).  At the time, I thought it sounded like a very decadent dessert and wanted to try making it, but I never had a chance to, until now!

The night before making the cake, I baked the cheesecake layer.  I used a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours" for basic tall cheesecake.  Since the recipe was for a 9-inch cheesecake, I divided everything by 1/4 since I was only making a 6-inch cake and I didn't want too tall of a cheesecake layer.

After baking the cheesecake in a water bath for 90 minutes, I propped open the oven door with a wooden spoon and allowed it continue to "luxuriate in it's warm bath" (as Dorie put it) for another hour.  Then I took it out and let it come to room temperature, before wrapping it up in saran wrap and putting it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I baked the cake layers using my favorite red velvet recipe from Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" book, except that I divided the recipe in half and poured the batter into two 6-inch pans instead of a cupcake pan.  Once they were baked and cooled, I started assembling my cake.

First I trimmed the tops off my red velvet cakes to make the surface even.  Then I placed the first cake layer right side up onto a 6-inch cake circle.  Next came the cheesecake - I unmolded it from the pan and placed it on top of the first cake layer.  Then I placed the second layer of cake upside down onto the cheesecake layer, so that I would have the smooth bottom of the cake to frost.

Next I whipped up a batch of cream cheese buttercream, and then spread a quick crumb coat of frosting onto the cake.

Then after a quick chill in the fridge, I used the rose cake method from I Am Baker to pipe my roses all over the cake.  (I've used her rose cake method a few times already, see here and here, and I still love the look every time).  I started by piping the top of the cake, then I piped the sides, and then I filled in any gaps with little swoops and swirls.

In hindsight, I probably should have spread a layer of frosting between the cake and cheesecake layer, as the cake started to shift a little when I cut into it, and the frosting layer would probably have held it in place.  Lesson learned.

Here's a final picture of my mother-in-law with the kids, who helped her to blow out the candles.  Happy Birthday!!!