Start by making the cheesecake:

Preheat oven at 180C (350F) and prepare a 6 inch spring-form pan by brushing it with butter and dusting it with all-purpose-flour. Dust out the excess flour. Wrap a layer of aluminium foil around the spring-form pan to prevent any water from the water bath from seeping inside.

Heat water in a kettle/saucepan as you prepare the cheesecake. This water will be used in a hot water bath as the cheesecake bakes. The water bath keeps the cake moist and prevents cracks from forming on the crust

Using a handheld or a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and creamy

Add the sugar and beat on medium speed for a minute

Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition

Add the yogurt, cream and vanilla and beat on low speed for another minute

The mixture will be smooth, and of a pour-able consistency

In a roasting pan, add the hot water and place this in the oven

Pour out the batter into the prepared spring-form pan and place it in the roasting pan

Bake the cake at 180C for 45 minutes

Let the cake cook once done, and let it chill in the fridge while the red velvet cake is baking

For the red velvet cake layers:

Start by preheating the oven to 180 C, and prepare 2 x 6 inch cake pans as above

Sieve together the APF and the cornflour into a bowl

Into the APF-cornflour mixture, sift in the baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder

Add the salt to the dry ingredients and keep aside

In a separate bowl, beat the butter until fluffy

Add the sugar and beat for a minute

Add the oil and beat again

To this mixture, add the 3 egg yolks, and beat for another minute

Add the vanilla extract, vinegar, red food coloring, and beat for a minute. Add enough color to ensure the batter achieves a nice and even red color. I added around 2 teaspoons of gel color.

In a separate bowl, whip up the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. This takes around 4-5 minutes using a handheld mixer on high speed.

Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating it with the buttermilk

Beat the mixture on medium speed until just combined. Do not over-beat it.

Fold in the beaten egg whites gently until well combined

Turn out the batter into the 2 cake pans and bake at 180 C for 30 minutes

To prepare the frosting:

Whip the cream with the cream cheese and icing sugar until the mixture is thick and spreadable. This should take around 5 mins with a hand-held mixture on high speed

To Assemble:

Using a serrated knife, cut the tops off the red velvet cake layers, ensuring that the surfaces are smooth. Crumble the red velvet cake-tops that have been cut, and keep the crumbs aside.

Sandwich the red velvet cake layers with the cheesecake layer and spread the frosting all over the cake, using an off-set spatula. The finishing doesn't have to be neat.

Take the crumbs of the red velvet cake and gently press them all over the frosted cake. Using a piping bag filled with left-over icing and fitted with a star-shaped icing tip, you can dot the top of the cake with little stars, for that added festive look!