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Have you ever wanted to try a new slice at The Cheesecake Factory but hesitated because you weren’t sure if you’d like how it looks? Never fear! Serious Eats has tested each slice in an epic quest to find the best.

They have photographed each flavor: view them in the slideshow on their site!

Serious Eats: Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory

My hands-down favorite so far is the red velvet cake cheesecake. Layers of red velvet cake intermingled with a mellow original cheesecake.. delicious. After viewing this slideshow I think I’m going to be motivated to venture out of my comfort zone and sample some new flavors!

In their Best-Of list Serious Eats categorizes the cheesecakes into four clusters:

1. Topped Cheesecakes
2. Flavored Cheesecakes
3. Layered Cheesecakes
4. Layered Cake-Cheesecakes (my favorite!)

So, now if I’ve made you hanker a slice, stop by a Cheesecake Factory on July 30. All slices will be half-price. How could one resist?

Fun With Frosting, a photo by neatlysliced on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Lincoln made a checkerboard out off the excess cake I cut off. Yum!

When you cut off the excess cake, never waste! Much fun can be had with the trimmings.

This piece became a delectable delight – and fun to gaze upon – after applying some excess buttercream in a checkboard pattern.

What creative methods have you put your cake trimmings to use?

R2-D2 Groom’s Cake, a photo by The Uncommon Cakery on Flickr.

Absolutely adorable “Artoo!” cake! All is edible sans the bow tie.

Always my favorite character, back from when I was a wee tyke.

The only question: where do you slice first?

I’m perusing my photo library and finding all sorts of baked goods that I haven’t shared. Back in ’09 I acquired one of those beautiful Wilton giant cupcake pans.

A family friend was having back surgery so I pulled out 2 carrot cake mixes and a couple tubs of cream cheese frosting and gave it a shot.

It’s been a while, but if I recall correctly, I had to bake several minutes beyond the cake mix instructions. I followed the instructions that came with the pan, but kept my eye on the cake toward the end.

The pan hold just slightly over one cake mix, so I made two cake mixes, filled the giant cupcake pan appropriately, and made cupcakes with the rest.

Next time I’ll stop icing a little sooner, way before I reach the “liner”.

Aren’t these rosette tops on the mini (normal sized) cupcakes just the cutest? I love using a 1M tip to make this rosette top. A nice variation to the typical 1M swirl we see.

Have you used the giant cupcake pan? I’d love to see it – link to your creation in the comments!