Red Velvet Cheesecake

Ingredients
Cheese cake filling
2 lb cream cheese
1 c sugar
1T cornstarch
1/8 t salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2T cocoa powder
3T red food coloring
Crust

White Chocolate Ganache

4 T butter

1/2 c heavy cream

11 oz bag of White Chocolate chips

2 + 2 c divided Red Velvet Shortbread cookie crumbs (recipe for cookies HERE)
5 T butter (melted) + butter to grease pan

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F
Butter a 10" spring form pan. Wrap pan in foil to seal out water bath (foil must come all the way up on all sides. (Add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to make serving easier.)

You will need a roasting pan large enough to hold the spring form pan and a cooling rack or meat rack that can keep the spring form pan off the bottom.

In another container boil enough water for the water bath to fill up to 1" below the edge of your springform pan when it's in the roaster pan. (For me that was about 3 quarts.)

(make a recipe of Red Velvet Shortbread cookies without white chocolate shown in the linked recipe, ground into even crumbs in a food processor.)

Blend 2 cups of Red Velvet Shortbread crumbs and melted butter. Pour crumbs into the pan. Press evenly into the bottom of the pan. Use a glass to press them down firmly. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool completely.

Cream together cream cheese, sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Scrape down mixing bowl and beater. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and sour cream and mix well. Scrape down bowl and beater again, restart mixer and add eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly between.

Scoop about four cups of batter into the pan. Spread evenly levelling completely. 

Add the cocoa and red food coloring to the remaining batter. Mix thoroughly. Add more food color if batter is too pale. Once mixed, gently scoop red batter into the top of the white batter. Level completely.

Place springform pan in the larger pan and on the cooling rack. Add enough boiling water until the water is 1" below the edge of the springform pan.
Bake in the oven for 55 minutes. Turn off the oven but leave the pan there to cool for an hour with the door blocked open.

Once cool, remove onto a cooling rack. Runs a thin knife around the edge. 

After the cake is completely cool to the touch, remove the spring form rim. Plate and refrigerate for at least four hours or up to three days.

After the cake has been refrigerated at least 4 hours (more if possible) prepare White Chocolate Ganache icing to finish the cheesecake. Put butter and cream in a high-sided glass mixing bowl (suitable for whisking it). Heat in microwave for 2 minutes or until the butter has melted. Add the White Chocolate chips and let sit until the chips begin melting. Whisk until melted and blended, then place in the refrigerator to cool for about 20-30 minutes. Check occasionally. When cooled (you feel no remaining warmth from the melting) whisk briskly by hand or mixer until light and spreadable.

I put the cheesecake on a decorators turntable and then started adding icing to the top first. Using an offset spatula, smooth frosting from the center outward to get an even thin layer. Then begin adding icing to the outside edge of the cake. This will be a rougher surface, so more icing will be required. Once the entire cake is covered. Gently press small hand fulls of Red Velvet Shortbread cookie crumbs onto the outside edge of the cake. When done, refrigerate.

When ready to serve, dip a smooth (non-serrated) knife in hot water and make one cut downward (the icing may be firm - the warm knife will melt through.) Remove the knife gently, wipe again with warm water and make each successive cut. If you used parchment on the bottom, you should be able to get a spatula under the edge of the cake and lift out each piece to serve.