850. Red Velvet Cheesecake

I keep claiming that Red Velvet is nothing more than a dyed weak chocolate cake yet I keep finding myself making variations of it! What can I say? People love it. After the brownies, brownie cake, and cupcakes, comes today's red velvet cheesecake.
This was one of the silkiest and nicest cheesecakes I've made. Nice, because some cheesecakes are mean to make. They crack, they set too hard or not hard enough, they stick to the sides of the tin regardless of precautions taken... Although the batter was runny and chilled my heat in fear, the end result was magnificently silky and set just right. Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

Crust:
17 oreo cookies, crushed finely
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp sugar

Cheesecake:
750g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp red food coloring

Frosting:
250g cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Brush the sides of a 9 inch spring form pan with pan release and line the bottom with parchment.

Prepare crust: Stir together Oreo crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar; press mixture into bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare water bath: Fill large roasting pan (big enough for springform pan to fit into) with about 1 inch of water. Place in oven and allow to preheat along with the oven.

Prepare filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute.

Add eggs and remaining cheesecake ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. 

Pour batter into prepared crust.

Take out two sheets of heavy duty foil and layer them on top of one another. 

Place springform pan on top of the foil and wrap the foil gently around the pan and up the sides. 

Make sure that there are no tears or holes and that the foil comes all the way up around all sides of the cake.

Carefully place the foil-protected pan into the water bath in the preheated oven.

Bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours until the center is firm. Turn oven off.

Let cheesecake stand in oven for 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven and carefully remove cheesecake from water bath and place on wire rack. 

Cool on rack for a couple of hours, until the cheesecake becomes close to room temperature. 

Cover and chill for at least 8 hours (or overnight). Remove sides of springform pan.

Prepare frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth.

Spread or pipe evenly on top of cheesecake.

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