Neapolitan Cheesecake Cake
Remember the cake from my first fondant adventure? I promised I’d provide details about the inside, so here we are. And, I have the winner of the giveaway. But first, let’s talk cake.
I came up with the idea for this cake a couple months ago. After the Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake got posted, I started thinking about other cakes that would go well with cheesecake. I brainstormed a bunch of ideas – the possibilities are endless!
Hubby and I really enjoyed this cake, although it probably wasn’t the best choice for my first fondant adventure. Since I was making the layers for my cake and Megan’s cake, I made these layers about a week early and wrapped them up and put them in the freezer. As my layers were defrosting, there was moisture on the outside of the fondant, which made things a bit sticky.
You can also see in the pictures that my cheesecake wasn’t firm enough to hold up the top layer. As the cheesecake layer came to room temperature, it kind of flattened out a bit. I think this happened because it was a bit undercooked. Lesson learned. Even with the imperfections in my execution of this cake, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
I almost forgot. I had Random.org choose a number for the fondant giveaway. Congratulations Angela Wilkinson!! Please email me to claim your prize!
One Year Ago: Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese
Neapolitan Cheesecake Cake
Ingredients:
1 layer chocolate cake
1 raspberry cheesecake, recipe below
1 layer yellow cake
For the Raspberry Cheesecake
1 1/4 pounds bar cream cheese (20 oz), room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, plus 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup raspberries, mashed or pureed
Directions:
Bake the cake layers. Remember that one 9" round layer uses the same amount of batter as 12 cupcakes. One 6" round layer uses the same amount of batter as 6 cupcakes. Be sure to scale your recipes accordingly.
The layers can be made in advance and frozen if necessary.
Plate the chocolate layer on a cake round. Add the raspberry cheesecake layer. Top with the yellow cake. Frost with your favorite frosting. I would recommend a cream cheese frosting for this cake.
For the Raspberry Cheesecake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set a kettle of water to boil. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium until fluffy, scraping down side of bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in lemon zest and juice, and salt. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down side of bowl after each addition. Beat in sour cream. Stir in pureed raspberries.
Cut parchment paper in a circle and line the bottom of the cheesecake pan. Wrap bottom half of pan in foil. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of springform. Bake until just set in center, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from water; let cool 20 minutes. Run a paring knife around edge; let cool completely. Cover; chill overnight, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.
Raspberry Cheesecake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Jen, I totally love your blog. You always ahve the BEST treats! I LOVE the picture with all the cookies resting on the m&ms. GREAT idea! 🙂
Looks beautiful as always!
perfect use of pink! So interesting about how the cookies reacted to the way you rolled them! Thanks for the heads up!
Your cookies look great and that’s a good tip about getting them to look their best too. My kids and all their friends love these cookies. I’ve made them a few times since I first posted them and they never last long.
thanks for the link!
~ Michelle
Those are beautiful and perfect for such a great cause
What an adorable picture! Also helps that they are for a great cause! 🙂
M&Ms are my favorite treat and I love that during this month everything is PINK! The cookies look fantastic.
I am bummed I missed your Power of Pink contest as I was utilizing October to raise awareness around breast cancer too! I made some cookies and have a post on my site: http://katskitchenplace.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-is-breast-cancer-awareness.html
I like the chocolate cookie base of your cookies! Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to checking back and seeing all what people make towards your challenge 🙂
A chocolate cookie topped with chocolate candies? What could be better? Perhaps a tall, ice cold glass of milk to go with them! They look divine. I’m wondering if you might skip the rolling and flattening by creating a wide log of dough (without M&Ms), slicing to the thickness desired, then pressing candies on top? Seems like the dough might be fairly easy to shape into a log. A quick pop into the fridge before slicing would help firm it up. Just a thought! I can’t wait to try them.
Best,
Casey
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com
P.S. Not sure if I’ve invited you before, but I’d love to publish any of your photos that FoodGawker and TasteSpotting decline! Thanks. 😀
I love the dark chocolate and pink M&M contrast. What fantastic cookies:)
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I just made your recipe for these cookies yesterday and took them to church. The kids went nuts and they’ve never turned out as pretty as they did this time. Thanks for the helpful tips because my m&m cookies have never turned out prettier! 9 minutes was also perfect timing as well.
Both pretty and I’m sure delicious! I love how you showed the comparison between batches to give better suggestions for prettier cookies. The final batch are definitely the prettiest of the bunch. I love that the pink pops w/the chocolate cookie.