Cake "Bright Celebration"

Here is a cake I baked for Thanksgiving. It was my first time hosting family celebration with a lot of people. So I was not sure what kind of cake to bake to make everyone happy. That's why I decided to combine chocolate layer with cheesecake...can't miss with this combo :) Unfortunately I didn't make step-by-step pictures.

Chocolate layer recipe is buy "Martha Stewart's Cupcakes", Devil's Food Cupcakes

* 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

* 3/4 cup hot water

* 3 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

* 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

* 2 1/4 cups sugar

* 4 large eggs, room temperature

* 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

* 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Directions

NOTE: I used half of everything for this chocolate cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.

3. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool; turn out cake onto rack and let cool completely. Cake can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. To finish, cut cake into 2 in the middle. Spread  frosting between the layers and a thing layer on top. Refrigerate for 30min - 1 hour.

FROSTING

Any chocolate frosting will do.

I used 

*1 1/2 packs of cream cheese (room temperature)

* sugar to taste

*1/2 cup chocolate chips 

I always have my cream cheese at room temperature. It makes frosting smooth and even in textured.  I even warm it in a microwave for about 10-15 sec. 

Mix cream cheese and sugar until creamy and add melted chocolate chips. Mix well. 

My frosting on a picture turned out to be very soft because I decided to add a little bit of plane yogurt. Well, it didn't harden as much as I would like it, even after refrigerating. 

Make sure to have your chocolate cake be even on top before placing cheesecake there.

CHEESE CAKE

*3 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese softened to room temperature
*3 eggs, room temperature

* 1 cup sugar
*1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*1 Lemon (only zest)

* chocolate syrup in a bottle

*1 cup heavy cream room temperature

Here are some tips on how to bake a perfect cheesecake 

 NOTE: There is no crust!

NOTE: I used different size pans for my cakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 45 min or until ready. I baked in a water bath. Wrap the bottom of a springform pan with two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Set aside another oven-proof pan that this can sit into. You will use these as a water bath when cooking your cheesecake, so make sure the aluminum foil come up high enough to keep water out of your cheesecake.

Beat the cream cheese for a minimum of 3 minutes; add 1 cup sugar and beat this mixture until it is light and creamy. And heavy cream.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed after each one is added. Increase the speed of the mixer to high and let this mix while you add lemon zest and vanilla to your cream mixture. Frequently scrape down the sides and the beaters so that the mixture is smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared spring form pan. 

Chocolate swirls

Make a lot of dots with chocolate syrup and swirl them with a toothpick  

 Pink round balls are made out of homemade fondant. To make them pink I just added some instant drink powder.  Decorated with fresh pineapple and blackberries on toothpicks.