Pin Reaper: Melissa
Original Inspiration: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/A6DIhAAQALgGwsTZgzcAAAA/
via: http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/08/27/strawberry-cheesecake-cake/
What I Did: I was so excited to make this cake for my daughter’s 8th Birthday! She picked it out! I made the cheesecake, turned out great! I was so excited because it was the 1st time I ever made Cheesecake from scratch before, and it actually turned out! Then I made the cake, it turned out great too! Then the frosting was made. It looked good and tasted good, but I couldn’t get it to whip up. I applied it to the cake to see if it would stick! Hahaha! It just fell off, so I added more and stuck it in the refrigerator to harden up. In the refrigerator, it seemed to not age gracefully. This frosting needed some Botox! It looked like the cake threw up and the layers started to slant! Lol…we renamed the cake the Strawberry Beast and I added some strawberries in the hopes of maybe covering it up or making it look better, but it was a lost cause!….It made for great conversation and some great laughs! I kept opening up the fridge hoping that it would magically look better…..that didn’t happen 🙁 On the upside, it tasted way better than it looked! Lol
Next Time I Will: Changes I would make would be to just use strawberry pre-made frosting! Lol, and I would refrigerate the cheesecake for a longer period of time so it could harden up (in the recipe, it actually says to put it in the freezer…I did not do that).
“I was so excited because it was the 1st time I ever made Cheesecake from scratch…”
It’s usually not a good idea to attempt something that’s way above the level of what you’ve successfully made before. In other words, you’ve never successfully made a cheesecake but you’re attempting a two layer cake with cheesecake in the middle.
It’s usually best, especially with special occasions, to go with what you know or buy it professionally done until you’ve practiced enough so you’ve gotten up to that level.
Yes, the cheesecake layer needs to go in the freezer for at least 2 hours. The cake layers should go in the freezer too (or at least the fridge), wrapped well so they don’t dry out. That’s why you had the sliding, the cake warmed up the cheesecake and it started to melt. I generally start cakes with a cheesecake layer a day in advance so that the layers can go in the freezer overnight.
Cream cheese frosting is difficult and it takes practice. It’s something you have to keep tweaking until you figure out what works for you. The cream cheese has to be room temperature to mix it, but if it’s too warm it starts to melt. Looking at the original recipe, I would have doubled the amount of powder sugar and left out the whipping cream until the end and only added it if the frosting was too thick. Sometimes, I just use buttercream on these types of cakes, it’s doesn’t pair as well, but it’s much easier.
No fail frosting… a small box of vanilla pudding mix (that requires 2 cups of milk in directions), 1 cup of milk and an 8 Oz tub of thawed cool whip. Mix the pudding powder with a cup of milk until dissolved, after it thickens a little, fold in the cool whip. The color is a little yellow, so think of that when you’re adding the food coloring. Chill for a bit and then frost. It would be yummy with that cake 🙂