Imagine the perfect blend of two classic desserts: the warm, comforting flavors of apple crumble and the rich, creamy decadence of cheesecake. September is the perfect time for apple -- let's kick off fall with this delicious recipe.
Ingredients
Crust
2 packages of graham crackers (~8 cookies total)
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1.5 tablespoon brown sugar
3.5 tablespoon of melted butter
Apple Crumble Topping
1-2 diced apples
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
3/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 stick of butter (softened)
Cheesecake Filling
21 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Instructions
Crust
Preheat oven to 325 F
In a food processor, add the graham crackers, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend it all together until a fine sand-like texture. Melt the butter. Add the melted butter to the food processor and blend it together with the blended cookies.
In a 9 inch spring pan add parchment paper to the bottom or use baking spray with flour. Add the cookie crumble and press the cookie crust down with the bottom of a glass, and up agains the side of the pan, so it’s well packed together and flattened out. Try to get the crust as even as possible!
Bake for 10 minutes and let cool completely.
Apple Crumble Topping
Dice the apples into small cubes and toss them in granulated sugar and cinnamon. Overtime the sugar will pull some of the liquid in the apples, avoid adding that to the cheesecake when placing the apples.
Add flour, brown sugar and butter to another bowl. Mix it together by hand or with an electric hand mixer, until it forms a crumble structure.
Set aside both toppings while making the cheesecake filling.
Cheesecake
With a hand mixer, mix the cream cheese for 1 minute on low speed. Gradually add the granulated sugar. After the sugar is completely added, mix for an additional 1 minute on a low speed.
In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream and cornstarch until smooth.
Add it to the cream cheese with the vanilla extract and let it mix on low speed until combined.
Add one egg at a time and let it mix on low speed until combined. Once all the eggs have mixed in, scrape down the sides of the bowl and give it a final mix to make sure all the ingredients have incorporated.
Pour the cheesecake batter into the spring pan.
Gently divide the cinnamon sugar apples first on top of cheesecake, followed by the crumble.
Prepare the "water bath". Boil water separately in a pot. Place the spring pan in either a roasting pan or a large cake pan and fill it with hot water about one inch up the side of the pan. Put tin foil around your spring pan to avoid water getting in the pan. This is super important!
Bake for 1 hour and 20-30 min.
Once the time has passed, give the tray a very gentle shake. The cheesecake should still be a bit wobbly in the middle. Turn off the oven and have the oven door slightly open and let the cheesecake cool down in the oven for 1 hour.
Take it out of the oven and remove it from the water bath. Take off the aluminum foil and place the cheesecake on a cooling rack. Let it cool down fully for about 1 hour to room temperature.
Finally, once at room temperature, place it in the fridge and let it set for at least 6 hours, preferable overnight.
It's rare that I shock myself with a recipe... this one is UNREAL. Try it out today!!
Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out amazing! Going to make again for Thanksgiving this year.