Oregon Transplant: Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

Happy Thursday!

It's been a difficult couple of days for the hubby and I. A stomach virus invaded the house and brought all activity to a grinding halt. The hubby had the worst of it. His started on Tuesday, and he did nothing but get sick until 4 pm that day. He was finally able to keep some Pepto in his system in the evening, and that seemed to help. All day Tuesday, the one and only thought I had was 'Please, please, please! Do not let me get this!' I mean, you know when you are watching your spouse get sick every 30 minutes, literally all day? No one wants to do that themselves. I was feeling the fear.

Cue yesterday morning at 6 am. It started for me too. I was sick twice, but then I was able to keep some Pepto down. It seemed to keep me from being physically ill the whole day. Thank goodness for Pepto, it seemed to be the miracle drug for this stomach bug. I'm glad I didn't spend yesterday like the hubby spent his Tuesday. However, I had less than no energy. One time I got up to get a bottle of water, and broke into a cold sweat with dizziness. This was a nasty, nasty bug. The hubby and I felt about the same yesterday. Lying around with no appetite or energy. I feel 100% better today, though. Thank goodness!! The hubs is still in bed, so no word on how he's going to feel today. Hopefully much better as well!

Enough about stomach viruses! Because cake and stomach viruses don't make the best bedfellows. Duh :-)

But seriously, this cake. Wow. It is stunningly easy for how delicious it is. I think I mentioned in Tuesday's post just how busy last weekend was. I was busy snapping pictures for the hubby's-cousin's-wife's baby shower when my sister-in-law informed me we were having my niece's birthday the very next day. While not everyone is shocked by last minute news, I had been asked to bake the cake. Eek!

I had already picked out a recipe (thank goodness!) so I frantically called the hubby and asked him to pick up a few essentials for the cake while I was at the shower. We were supposed to head to his cousin's mother-in-law's house to hang out with the family after the shower, but I informed the hubby I would be baking a cake before I did any of that. The hubby was skeptical that I would have enough time, but I was determined. It was going to happen.

Cut to 5 pm after the baby shower. I frantically ran in the garage door of the house, turned on the oven, and got to work. And, like I also mentioned on Tuesday, this cake was in the oven in record time. It was a miracle. I'm so thankful for this recipe, because it's such a show-stopper for the small amount of effort you put into it. The cake starts with a box of cake mix, so while I was preparing the cake mix by hand, I got the cream cheese filling started in my KitchenAid mixer. By the time the mix was ready, so was the filling. I constructed the cake, threw it in the oven, and 33 minutes later, the hubby and I were out the door to spend time with family.

I frosted the cake the next morning, decorated it at my sister-in-law's house, and then finally relaxed.

To take photos of the party.

Ok, so not much relaxation was had. Haha. Here's a few pictures from my niece's party-

My niece, like me, also gets to have a Christmas tree on her birthday every year :-)

I wrote on the cake in red and blue. My niece wanted a "Paris" party, so my sister-in-law and I figured red and blue would be like the French flag. The only problem? I think the cake was slanted, because the icing all ran together. Stupid icing.

The kids had a hard time keeping their hands off the cake :-)

Ready to dig in!

Those pockets of cream cheese filling in the cake are amazeballs!

My niece declared the cake so good, she went all "Christmas Story" on it. Our own little piggy. Haha. So yes, the cake is very much "kid-approved".

Me and the birthday girl :)

Opening the necklace I made her.

Checking out all the charms in the locket.

She loved it!

So there you are folks! This would be a perfect holiday dessert to take to a party. Especially if you get invited last minute, and need something fast! This will really impress everyone.

That's all for today, folks. While I am feeling much better, I think it's going to be another day of rest. Mainly because- dun, dun, dun- I start Christmas cookies tomorrow! Whoop whoop! I'm starting a little early this year because the hubby and I are going out of town next Wednesday and we won't be back until the following Monday. Cookies must go out beforehand to be in time for Christmas. I can't wait, this is one of my favorite times of the year!

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (makes {1} 9 x 13 cake):

Cake-
1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix
1 cup water, room temp
1/3 cup canola oil
3 large eggs, room temp
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg white

Frosting-
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp whole milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan, set aside.
2. Prepare the cake- In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs. Mix according to package directions. Set aside. In another large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and egg white. Beat throughly, mixing until completely smooth. If you see any lumps, keep mixing. Pour half of the cake mix mixture into the prepared pan. Drop the cream cheese mixture onto the red velvet mixture in spoonfuls. Once you've dropped all the cream cheese, take a toothpick and swirl the mixture. Finish by pouring the rest of the red velvet cake mix on top. Do your best to cover the cream cheese layer. Put the cake in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. My cake took exactly 33 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool completely before icing.
3. Prepare the frosting- Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl, and beat until fluffy. Add the sugar, and beat until smooth. Mix in the vanilla, beat until smooth. Mix in the milk, beat until smooth. Finally, spread frosting on cooled cake. Serve immediately, or chill before serving. Keep leftovers in the fridge, due to the cream cheese.

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