Oct 21

Apple Cheesecake6 Comments

Hello there heaven on earth. Seriously I am not joking with this recipe. This fall I have been wanting to make lots of different apple recipes. There was a cake that I saw in Southern Living magazine that I could literally not stop thinking about it. It consumed my thoughts. Every night before bed, I would tell Blair that I had to make this apple cake. Since my mom and I apparently share a brain when it comes to baking she had seen the same cake, and was obsessing about it just like me. She bit the bullet first and told me that it was not worth it. My hopes and dreams crushed.

Turns out my sister was the hero saying that her mother-in-law’s apple cheesecake was one of her favorite apple recipes. I am sure it has made many appearances at family gatherings, but for some reason I had never tried it. I got the recipe and knew that this was the answer to turn my frown upside down. (Corny yes, but what do you expect I am an elementary teacher?!) This was my first ever cheesecake that I attempted. I was intimidated, but knew that I could pull it off. The whole after baking it will be wiggly in the middle, but will firm up still, totally threw me for a loop. I forged on and I am so glad I did. First you have a buttery, lemony pastry that is simply amazing. The cream cheese layer has the perfect amount of sweetness and the cinnamon sugar apples on top just makes it so much better.

The recipe calls for 4 cups of apples, but I don’t think I ended up using that many. My sister said mine definitely had more apples than her mother-in-law’s. I ended up creating several layers, but you can do one single layer, the choice is up to you. I plan to serve this at my next dinner party that I hope to have in our new house. This is perfect for this time of year. And if you are still not sure about the whole cheesecake thing, how about trying my Oreo Cheesecake cups. Also, for those of you that missed my bonus post yesterday, I was a guest over at Keep it Sweet, go check it out!

A little shout-out has to go to Shawnda at Confections of a Foodie Bride who posted a great tutorial on DIY wooden tabletops. I have two new “tables” to now shoot photos with. Thanks for the inspiration and thanks to my darling hubby for helping me with this project.

Apple Cheesecake
Yield: 9 “cake
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 egg yolk — save the white, room temperature
1/4 lb. of butter (can substitute margarine), room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon grind grated fine

Filling:
2 – 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
l egg white (saved from the crust)
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup of sugar
4 cups of sliced apples, with or without the skins (I used a sweet apple like Gala)
1 tsp. of cinnamon

What you’ll do:
For the crust: Combine all of the crust ingredients in a small bowl. Using your hands, mix well and spread mixture on bottom and sides of spring form pan. Push the pastry to within 1/2 inch from the top of pan.

For the filling: Cream sugar and cream cheese. Then add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, blending after each addition. Finally add the egg white and blend until incorporated. Pour into pastry lined pan.

For the topping:Mix sugar and cinnamon and then toss apples into mixture until well
coated. Layer apples over cheese cake. You can add almond slivers on top if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes and then reduce heat to 375 for 30 to 35 minutes. Refrigerate after cooled. Best if cooled overnight.

Source: Pat Ryer