The Domestic Empress

Of the many things my mother keeps in her arsenal, her stockpile of cookbooks is by far the most impressive I have ever seen (In the hostile communities of Northern Virginia, we are united against a common enemy: the impromptu potluck. This is to say nothing of our daily battle known as dinner wherein no one has any opinions except that we must have it and it should not be boring). Normally I visit the internet for my recipes, but if I am at home I will gladly turn to her bookshelves.

The Southern Living collection will soon need its own wing in my mother’s home. Their Red Velvet Cheesecake was the most obvious choice for our Christmas dinner dessert. Cheesecake, I think, is seasonless – which is why I feel like I can blog about it even though Christmas is months behind us (nothing to do with me being lazy…not even a little).

You know that Red Velvet Cake is my signature cake. It is my go to recipe when everything else has gone wrong. I have strong opinions about my Red Velvets and high expectations.

Fortunately, this cheesecake was everything I wanted. It had that Red Velvet taste (I can’t think of the best words to describe that taste. It’s kind of a tangy taste, a little zing! to your tongue) but with that creamy cheesecake to balance it out.  Naturally the whole thing is finished with a cream cheese frosting.

As I said before, I made this for Christmas but since there aren’t any seasonal items involved, I really think this dessert is seasonless. There is never a wrong time for red velvet.   

What’s your favorite kind of cheesecake? Do you have a go-to recipe that makes everything right in your world?