Cake Batter Cheesecake!

Reasons I think you'll love this cheesecake: 1- You are a human being with a mouth and 2- You are not a monster.
First thing's first, you neeeed a springform pan for this recipe. I would love to be like "Hey, it'll probably be fine in a round cake pan!" but, no, the world is not a perfectly beautiful place... Unless you make this cheesecake then your troubles will melt like lemon drops. You can find a springform pan pretty much anywhere they sell cooking stuff. I'm pretty positive they even have them at Safeway! If you don't know what a springform pan is it's your lucky day because we live in a modern world and there is a Wikipedia page for EVERYTHING, even different types of baking pans! Here it is!
Once you have that one little gadget you are pretty much set to start baking this silky, dense, celebratory, beauty of a confection.


The ingredients may be things you already have in your house. Unless, for some weird reason, you don't always keep 24 ounces of cream cheese on hand. Otherwise, you'll be set!

I used my stand mixer to make sure that this was as creamysmooth as possible but a hand mixer will work as well. The only thing I will say is that you should be sure that your mixer has a relatively low speed if you go with a hand-held option. I know mine is pretty speedy even on the lowest setting and one thing about a cheesecake is that you do not want air bubbles. I mean, we want density people, don't get crazy!
This is a one bowl recipe; my fave! Just throw the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and cake mix in your bowl and mix it low and slow until it's all smooth goodness. After that you add an egg at a time making sure to get back to that smooth goodness after each one until you get something that looks a little like this (or exactly like this... because it should):

I know what you're thinking: "ummm, that is NOT enough sprinkles!" and you could not be more correct! Believe me, I threw in another quarter cup of sprinks after I saw the measly distribution of color in my batter. This is, after all, a cake batter cheesecake and it needs every little colorful bit of festivity that we can give it! Here she is all up in the pan ready to be baked:

Rewind a little bit to before I started my batter and you would find me prepping my crust. I used birthday cake flavored Oreo cookies for my crust because those exist so why wouldn't I? If you want to know how to make a cookie crust visit my Frozen Reese's Pie with Oreo Crust recipe to find out how I make mine. So I prepped my little buttery cookie crust and pressed it firmly into the bottom of my pan bringing it only about half an inch up the sides. This will help keep the batter from seeping out of the pan if that were to happen and will also create a seal just in case any water from the water bath were to sneak into the pan. "What water bath?", you ask. Well, the water bath that you bake the cheesecake in, of course!

A water bath creates a nice steamy environment for the cheesecake to bake in inside the oven. Think of it like a sauna for your cake. The steam keeps the cheesecake super moist and delicious. Water baths are used with other moist-type-desserts like custards and puddings and prevent them from getting rubbery and dry.Without a water bath the cake will still bake evenly but will probably crack on the top and definitely will not be as moist as it would if you use the water. All I'm saying is: water bath=goodgoodgood!

Soooo, now that we have that cleared up we can start baking. With the oven pre-heated, wrap foil around the outsides and bottom of the springform pan to keep any water from getting all up in your cake. To do this I just laid a few large pieces of aluminum inside the large baking pan I was using to pour my water in to, making sure they hung over the edges quite a bit then set my cheesecake pan in the center. I then wrapped up the sides of the springform like a li'l present and set the whole thing on a rack in the center of the oven. Pro tip: pour the water into the pan after you've placed it onto the oven rack rather than filling it then trying to carry it over to the oven full of water. Yeah, that was learned the hard way a while back by yours truly.

So, then we bake. Then we cool. Then we FEAST! This cheesecake is just the right amount of cake batter flavor with that familiar tartness of a classic cheesecake, plus there are sprinkles so everything is perfect!

OH MYYY. Here's the how-to:

Serves: 10-12 people       Prep Time: 10 Minutes       Cook Time: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours plus cooling time

Ingredients:

For Cheesecake:

• 24 Ounces Cream Cheese- at room temperature
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 5 Eggs
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 1/3 Cup Yellow Cake Mix
• 1/4 Cup Sprinkles

For Crust:

• 1/2 Cup Butter- Melted
• 23-28 Oreos

Instructions:

1. Prepare your crust in 9 inch springform pan- Instructions for crust HERE
2. Beat Cream Cheese, vanilla, sugar, and cake mix on the lowest speed of your mixer until smooth
3. Keeping mixer on low add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition
4. Fold in sour cream and sprinkles
5. Add batter to prepared springform pan
6. Cover the outside and bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil
7. Place the pan inside a larger baking dish, fill the larger dish with enough warm water to come up half way on the springform pan
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside the oven for 60 more minutes. Do not open the oven door at any point!!
9. Remove cake from oven and water bath
10. Bring to room temperature on the counter for 1 hour
11. Place a paper towel on the top of the cake (to prevent drying out), cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to cool for at least 6 hours

I know it's hard to be patient but it'll be worth the wait! Find the recipe on ZipList HERE