About a month ago I made a red velvet cheesecake cake inspired by the one from The Cheesecake Factory. Ever since, I’ve been wanting to recreate another Cheesecake Factory cheesecake.
I’m always seeing this Oreo one that they do, which has a layer of chocolate cake, an Oreo stuffed cheesecake and then an Oreo mousse.
Since The Cheesecake Factory refuses to come to the UK, I had to make this myself…this cheesecake has raised my standard for all cheesecakes. IT IS SO GOOD!
Video Tutorial
Breakdown of the process
So I’m gonna be honest….this is a long recipe, there’s a lot of different parts to it. Nothing in the recipe is difficult, but it does take some time.
With that being said, it is definitely worth it.
You’re going to want to do this over 2 days, mainly because the cheesecake layer needs to chill in the fridge overnight.
Here’s a quick breakdown on what you’re going to need to do:
Day 1
- Make the cheesecake layer first – if you watched my video, in it I said that I made the cake layer first. It makes a lot more sense to make the cheesecake first, I don’t know why I started with the cake. Anyway, you want to bake this, let it cool to room temp, then leave it in the fridge overnight.
- Make the cake layer – this doesn’t need to be made the day before but it will be a lot easier if you get most things done on day 1. So I baked the cake and let it cool for a bit. Then I took it out of the tin, wrapped it in cling film and left this in the fridge too.
- Make the ganache – I used a whipped dark chocolate ganache on the outside of this cheesecake. If you wanted to make a milk or white one instead, you need to change the quantities of the ingredients. I will get into this later. Just make this, cover it and leave it to set at room temperature overnight. Don’t put this in the fridge, it will become too hard to whip.
Day 2
- Make the Oreo mousse – you want to make this just before you’re about to assemble the cheesecake.
- Assemble the cheesecake – now you can finally put everything together.
Ingredients for the cheesecake layer
Here are the ingredients you’re going to need to make the Oreo cheesecake layer:
- Granulated sugar – caster sugar works too.
- Corn flour – also known as corn starch.
- Cream cheese – make sure to use full fat cream cheesecake for this.
- Vanilla extract
- Double cream – also known as heavy cream. You want to warm this up in your microwave for about 30 seconds before adding it to the batter.
- White chocolate – this isn’t going to make the cheesecake white chocolate flavoured, it’s added to help with the texture. It is needed in this cheesecake so make sure to add it!
A few tips for making the cheesecake
Mix gently
You don’t want to add too much air into the batter, otherwise you will end up with a cheesecake that’s not very creamy. So try not to mix the batter aggressively.
Warm the double cream
Like I mentioned, you want to heat the cream for about 30 seconds before using it.
The reason for this is because after adding the cream, we add the melted white chocolate.
If the batter is too cold, the chocolate ends up setting straight away, we don’t want this. So adding warm cream just heats up the batter a little, which prevents the white chocolate from setting.
Bake it in a water bath
Using a water bath for cheesecake helps regulate the temperature of it as it bakes; it essentially stops the cheesecake from getting too hot.
This ensures that you get a smooth creamy cheesecake.
To bake it in a water bath all you need to do is place the tin with the unbaked cheesecake in, into a larger tin/roasting dish. Then fill the larger tin with some boiling water, just until it reaches half way up the sides of the tin with the cheesecake.
Now carefully place this into your oven.
Use the correct tin
Ok so there isn’t actually a correct tin to use. I just wanted to mention that I baked the cheesecake in a regular 8 inch cake tin.
If you are using a spring form or loose bottom cake tin, make sure to wrap the outside a few times with tin foil before adding it into the water bath.
If you don’t do this, the water will end up going into the cheesecake.
Ingredients for the chocolate cake layer
Most of the ingredients for the cake layer are your basic cake ingredients, there are just a few I wanted to talk about:
The coffee
The first step in making the cake is to mix some cocoa powder with some instant coffee that has been dissolved in hot water.
Coffee in chocolate cake helps enhance the chocolate flavour. It doesn’t make the cake taste like coffee at all.
However, you could leave it out if you wanted too, just make sure to still add the hot water though!
The yoghurt
I add plain yoghurt into my chocolate cake, it just adds a lot of moistness.
If you don’t have yoghurt, buttermilk is the best substitute, or sour cream.
Or you could also just use regular whole milk. The cake will be a little less moist but it’ll still be good.
The self-raising flour
If you live in a place that doesn’t have self-raising flour, or if you just don’t have it, you can use plain/all purpose flour.
Use the same amount but add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to it!
The dark chocolate ganache
I iced this cheesecake with a dark chocolate ganache.
If you’ve never had a dark chocolate ganache before….it’s bitter, it tastes just like dark chocolate.
Desserts like this cheesecake, ones that have a lot of different elements, can become quite sweet. Adding dark chocolate helps cut this sweetness, which I like.
However, I know the bitterness of dark chocolate is something that a lot of people don’t like. So instead you could make a milk chocolate ganache, or if you wanted too, a white chocolate ganache.
If you are going to do this though, you will need to use half the amount of cream. If you use the full amount, the ganache will be too runny.
Here’s the measurements for a milk/white chocolate ganache:
- 300ml double cream
- 400g milk or white chocolate
- 40g unsalted butter
The Oreo mousse
So I’ve never made mousse before, truthfully I don’t even really know what mousse is.
I looked at a lot of mousse recipes, they were all so different. But then I also looked at Oreo mousse recipes and most of them were just crushed Oreos and cream. This made me even more confused because….isn’t this just an Oreo whipped cream??? What makes it a mousse?
Anyway, the reason why I just said all this is because I don’t really know what it is I made for this layer. But it tasted amazing, so I don’t think it matters.
Ingredients for the mousse
- White chocolate
- Double cream
- Icing sugar
- Vanilla
- Crushed Oreos
Making the mousse is very easy, just melt the chocolate with some of the cream, then let this cool in the fridge.
Then whip the rest of the cream, with the icing sugar and vanilla. Once you get soft peaks, mix in the white chocolate and the Oreos.
Here are a few tips:
- Make sure to let the melted white chocolate/cream cool in the fridge before adding it to the whipped cream. If you add it in whiles warm, the whipped cream will melt.
- When whipping the cream, make sure it is cold. Cold cream whips way better than cream that has been left at room temperature.
- Only whip the cream until you get soft peak because once we add the white chocolate and Oreos, we’re going to mix the cream even more. If you whip it until you get firm peaks, it will just become too thick as you mix in the chocolate and Oreos. So soft peaks is best!
Assembling the cheesecake
The easiest way to assemble this cheesecake is in an 8 spring form/loose bottom cake tin.
To prepare my tin, I added a circle of baking paper to the bottom. Then I added a sheet of acetate around the side. If you don’t have acetate, you can just use some baking paper.
Then after that just stack everything together.
Do I have to leave this to chill in the fridge?
Yes….you need to let the mousse set up before adding the ganache.
If you don’t, when you take it out of the tin and spread the ganache over it, the mousse will just squish, this will cause you stress.
So in order to avoid the stress, let the mousse set for about an hour!
Here are some other cheesecake recipes I think you might like:
Cheesecake Factory
Oreo Cheesecake
Ingredients
- For the cheesecake layer:
120g granulated sugar
35g corn flour
480g cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
180ml warm double cream
100g white chocolate, melted
Around 15 Oreos
- For the chocolate cake layer:
50g cocoa powder
100ml hot water mixed with 1 teaspoon instant coffee
100ml any flavourless oil (I use vegetable)
100g plain yoghurt
3 eggs
175g self-raising flour
125g granulated sugar
125g brown sugar
- For the ganache:
600ml double cream
400g dark chocolate, chopped
40g unsalted butter
- For the Oreo mousse:
120g white chocolate
80ml double cream
400ml double cream
80g icing sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
15 Oreos, crushed
Directions
- DAY 1
- Making the cheesecake layer:
- Start by pre-heating your oven to 170c/325f. Also grease and line an 8 inch cake tin.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar, corn flour, cream cheese and vanilla. Mix this until combined.
- Add half of the warm double cream, mix this in, then add in the remaining double cream. Now mix in the melted white chocolate.
- Add half of this batter into your cake tin, spread it out, then add an even layer of the Oreos on top of this. Add the rest of the batter on top and smooth it out.
- Place this tin into a larger tin or roasting tray. Pour boiling water into this until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the tin with the cheesecake in.
- Bake this for around 30 minutes. It's done when the sides of the cheesecake are set but the centre is still slightly jiggly. Once baked, leave to cool at room temperature, then leave it in your fridge, whiles still in the tin, to set overnight.
- Making the chocolate cake layer:
- Pre-heat your oven to 170/325f, also grease and line an 8 inch cake tin.
- In a large bowl, add the cocoa powder and the water/coffee mixture. Whisk until smooth, then whisk in the oil, yoghurt and eggs.
- Add the flour and both sugars into this and whisk just until you get a smooth batter.
- Pour this into your cake tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once baked, leave to cool down for a bit, then take it out of the tin, wrap it in cling film then leave in your fridge overnight too.
- Making the ganache:
- In a pot, add the cream and heat this just until it starts to simmer. You could also just do this in your microwave.
- Add the chopped chocolate and butter into a bowl, then pour the hot cream over this. Leave this aside for 5 minutes, then stir until all the chocolate has melted and you get a smooth ganache. If your chocolate hasn't fully melted, place it in your microwave for a few seconds and stir again.
- Cover this and leave at room temperature overnight.
- DAY 2
- Making the Oreo mousse:
- In a bowl or jug, add the white chocolate and the 80ml of double cream. Heat this in your microwave for 30 seconds. Take it out and give it a stir, then heat for 15 seconds and stir again. Keep repeating this until the chocolate has melted and you get a smooth mixture. Leave this in the fridge to cool for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add the 400ml of double cream, the icing sugar and the vanilla. Whip this until soft peaks form.
- Mix the cooled chocolate/cream mixture and the crushed Oreos into this. Now leave this in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- Assembling the cheesecake:
- Once everything has been made, you can start assembling the cheesecake.
- First get your ganache and whip it until the mixture lightens in colour and you get firm peaks. Leave this aside.
- Line the bottom of an 8 inch springform/loose bottom cake tin with baking paper. Also line the sides with baking paper too. Or even better, if you have acetate, use this for the sides.
- Cut the top of your cake off, just to get an even layer, then place this into the tin. I added some of the ganache on top of this, I actually think it would've been better without it, but it's up to you if you want to add it or not.
- Add the cheesecake on top of this, then add the mousse and spread it out.
- Leave this in the fridge for 1 hour so that the mousse can set up.
- After 1 hour, take it out of the tin and ice it with the whipped ganache. If you feel like your ganache has become too stiff, heat it up in your microwave just for a few seconds.
- After you have iced it, cut into it and enjoy!
