Recipe: Red Velvet & Cheesecake Tunnel Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Boy what a weekend it has been!  After my midterm last Thursday I went home, ate dinner, and then went to bed.  I was so tired I didn’t get to blog.  Then on Friday I needed to bake up a bundt cake for my friend’s birthday bbq potluck thing (Saturday).  Just your treat that I am going to post up the recipe I adapted from two recipes I found online (at the time I don’t remember which site I went to for the bundt cake portion…)!  The frosting I adapted from Joy the Baker and Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

Usually I do not post up recipes unless it has been tried and more than two people love it.  This one was a BIG crowd-pleaser; even my parents liked it (they aren’t fans of cakes that are too sweet, but this cake isn’t that at all).  Sure if you eat the frosting by itself it can get pretty sweet, but just enough sweetness for this bundt cake.  I don’t have pictures for this cake yet, but I will have them uploaded into my computer by tonight for your enjoyment.

Also, I sort of cheated on the cake portion using a red velvet box mix, but it saves up on a lot of time and money for me.

Cutting into deliciousness

Red Velvet & Cheesecake Tunnel Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting

1 red velvet cake mix box
1/3 cup butter (I used unsalted and added 1/4tsp of salt)
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (for the cheesecake mixture, so get more for however many the cake box calls for)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (if using a darker bundt pan, take temp down by 5-10 degrees).  Prepare cake mix according to package directions, substituting oil needed for butter (as stated in ingredients list).
2. Pour 1/2 of batter into a 12-cup greased and floured fluted bundt pan.
3. Combine in a separate bowl cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract, mixing well at medium speed on an electric mixer until well blended.  Slowly add in eggs (2) one at a time until incorporated.
4. Pour cheesecake mixture over batter in pan  and spoon the rest of the red velvet cake batter over the cheesecake mixture.  Bake 1hr or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool 30mins to an hour (while in bundt pan to keep shape of fluted bundt pan).  Remove to a wire rack.

For the cinnamon cream cheese frosting:
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp butter, at room temp
4 oz cream cheese, cold
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (I used 1/2tsp because I like the cinnamon to be extremely present in frosting)
1 tsp vanilla extract

5. Beat the powdered sugar, cinnamon, butter, and vanilla extract together in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (can use the same from cake batter–just cleaned).  Mix on medium-slow speed until well mixed (you wouldn’t want to cover yourself in a powdered sugar blanket).
6. Add cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated.  Turn the mixer to a medium-high and beat for 5 mins or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.  Do not overmix as the frosting can become runny.
7. Make sure the cake is nice and cooled so the frosting does not melt into the cake.  Pipe lines on bundt cake or spread frosting covering most of the cake (up to you how thick you would like the frosting to be on the cake and how much to spread).

You can also convert this recipe into cupcake form by filling up each holder half-way with cake batter and then adding in about 2 tbsp of cheesecake mix into each and topping with rest of cake batter (enough to fill 3/4 of the way).    Then bake as directed on cake mix box for 19-25mins, depending on altitude and lightness/darkness of pan, checking with a toothpick at the end to see if baked through.  Cool cupcakes for about 30 mins transferring to a wire rack and then frost cupcakes.

To add more color and texture I added some red sprinkles over frosted bundt cake.  Keep cool until serving.  Slice (if a cake) and enjoy your decadent dessert.

This recipe calls for a dozen cupcakes so double the cake recipe for two 9-in layer cakes, and double the frosting recipe to frost a two-layer 9-in cake.

a piece of the cake

Photo credits go to Diana Wong.  Thanks Di for taking some pictures and happy belated birthday, chef (that’s my nickname for her).  Hope you liked the cake like Agatha hoovering it. Hehe…

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