Hi everyone! Could someone please tell me what recipe i can use for a filling for a vanilla cake that tastes like cheese cake? I need to bake a 3 tier wedding cake for the client and the bottom would be carrot, 2nd tier should be chocolate and the top tier vanilla cake with this cheese cake filling (Both the bride and groom loves cheesecake so thats why). But now I am clueless, any suggestions would be much appreciated! Many thanks

I have seen some pretty simple recipes for actual cheesecake fillings. You basically make a cheesecake, minus the crust, in a pan lined with parchment paper or foil.
This way it's easy to lift out of the pan, flip onto cake and remove paper or foil. Just do a search for "Cheesecake filling for cake", you will def find something. Another option which is VERY easy is Cheesecake mousse. Cheesecake instant pudding mixed with cream and milk. It won't have the same strong flavor as the cheesecake itself though. HTH

Well you could just bake a crustless cheesecake and use that...

I suppose you could try that cheesecake filling you can buy at the store in the dairy case, but I have no idea what it tastes or acts like and it would be perishable (as would actualy cheesecake). Will you need it to be shelf stable? Are they expecting actual cheesecake? Because if they are then nothing will substitute for that. We do cheesecake for a filling, but we have a commercial kitchen so we can offer that..home kitchens won't be able to offer the perishable fillings. And definitely for an upcharge... cheesecake is expensive to make.

When do you need this for? Do you have time to experiment?

I always use a cream cheese frosting filling for carrot cake.

I have a cake this week and they also want a cheesecake flavored filling. Since the cake won't be refrigerated, I wanted to make sure whatever filling I used was ok to be left out. What I did (to experiment, and now what I'm going with) is buy the already made vanilla pudding, and added dry cheesecake pudding to it adding enough to get the cheesecake flavor. It not only worked, but also thickened up the pre-made pudding so it wasn't so runny.

Pudding isn't shelf stable though. Unless you are making it with bettercream or something non-dairy.

To fill the carrot cake, the gold standard is cream cheese filling. I like lemon too, and lemon cream cheese is amazing. I grew up with lemon icing on carrot cake as that is how grandma made it.

There are no silly questions!

And there is always LorAnn cheesecake flavour, to give just a little extra boost. You add a few drops per cake.

Thank you everyone! Really appreciate all the advice!

Have you tried the new Lorann's Cream Cheese Emulsion??? Supposed to flavor like cream cheese without you actually having to use cream cheese. Might work!

I actually found that buying a cheesecake is just about the same price as making one...and it's a lot less hassle. I scoop out the filling --avoiding the crust--and put it on the cake layer. Use a stiff dam of buttercream around the edge and you're good to go! Works great and tastes wonderful! I've done this for several cakes and it's turned out well every time.[/quote]

SCORE! What a great idea! Thanks! I might try that method with a Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake.

I don't love store-bought cheesecake, and you can't often find them bigger than 10". It's easier to just bake off a 14" cheesecake than it would be to piece one together from smaller ones, and this way you don't need a dam of any kind since it's all one baked piece.

It is killer in a cake though. Pumpkin cake with cheesecake in it is wickedly good... as is chocolate cake.

I don't think pudding, once opened, is shelf stable. You need to check with the manufacturer or look on the label.

No cheesecake filling is shelf stable unless it is completely fake. No pudding, cheesecake filling, or ready-made cheesecake will work.

It will have to be shortening or butter and the cheesecake oil. Those oils have a very chemical, unnatural taste, but that is your only choice.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the powder mix in something shelf-stable may work, but make sure that the powdered pudding, once wet, does not need to be refrigerated.

I buy the Cheesecake Factory cheesecake at Sam's. It's a large size.. 10 -12 inches and it's very good. I've used it several times and everyone's lived to tell about it. If you deliver a cold cake it will come to room temp slowly.

OP, I"m in SA too (Gauteng). LorAnn's flavoured oils can only be bought online here, its quite expensive though. Roughly R365,00 per 100ml bottle.
When you say shelf-stable, do you mean its a cake the couple want to keep (as its top tier?) or just that you may need it to stand out for the night before and the day of?

If only for the event itself, I would suggest you make the cheesecake filling as you would for proper cheesecake... I am uncertain that a pudding-only filling would withstand the Cape Town weather, unless u build a good dam. Nothing beats a proper cheesecake in cake!
You could then torte and fill the cake, decorate and morning of and let it come to room temp and complete stacking etc.
HTH