Apple Cheesecake #SundaySupper

The change of season is being celebrated around the Sunday Supper table with apples. It´s the ultimate autumn (I had a very proper british schooling as you can see) fruit some may say. Together with pears and pumpkins they guarantee lazy summer days are over. I welcomed spring a few days ago, but apples are good all year round.

Today´s event is hosted by Cindy and she put together a most wonderful virtual apple festival.  Our Sunday Supper group is getting so big, you have an astonishing amount of fantastic apple recipes to choose from. 

Isn´t that amazing? I think so too. 

Over the last few years I developed quite a crush for cheesecake. My favorite recipe has no flour, an ingredient I find to be misplaced as part of the cheese mixture. With the right oven temperature and baking time, there´s no need to add any starch. I have not posted many cheesecakes though except for that one with  oreo cookies and the ricotta tangerine one, which would be banned from this category by many since, technically, it´s not a cheesecake in the way we all know, that is, that it´s most prominent ingredient be cream cheese. But on with our apple cake.

For this recipe my caramelized apples met cream cheese and a buttery sablée dough to become a wonderful apple cheesecake. With a hint of lemon and vanilla. A very straight forward dessert, with well known flavors combined. I had dog-eared this recipe ever since I got this book, which was more than ten years ago. So far I had only made the chocolate mint cookies and a bourbon chocolate cake years ago. I can pretty much say it´s a wonderful book, but then, I wouldn´t expect less from an extraordinary baker such as Nancy Silverton.

The crust is the one I use for every single tart or dessert that calls for a butter crust. It never fails and freezes well. The apples are caramelized and some rum is added, a perfect addition to cut through the sugar and add another layer of flavor. Today I omitted the cinnamon, but I add a teaspoon with the sugar whenever I make apples for a crumble pie.

I like the sablée dough as a base here. A detour from the usual cookie crust, I think it makes for a more sophisticated apple cheesecake. I grew up eating my grandmother´s apple crisp, an absolute favorite of my father, so apples have always been a hit at my house. This was no exception. A caramel sauce would´ve been a superb addition. There´s always next time.

APPLE CHEESECAKE 
adapted from Desserts, by Nancy Silverton

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients 

For the cheesecake base:

1/3 recipe Sablée Dough (recipe here)

For the apples:

1 ¾ (800g) pounds apples

Juice of half lemon

2 Tbs butter

4 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs rum

For the cream cheese mixture:

21 oz. (600g) cream cheese, at room tº

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs, at room tº

2 Tbs lemon juice (half a lemon)

Zest of half a lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Caramelized apples, for decoration (see recipe here)

Directions

For the cheesecake base: On a lightly floured surface roll sablée dough. Using the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan as a guide, cut a circle. Press it over bottom of springform pan. Prick with a fork and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the apples: Peel, core and slice apples into fourths. Slice each fourth in half. You will have 8 pieces per apple. Toss in a bowl with the lemon juice. 
Melt butter on a large skillet over high heat. When it begins to foam add apples and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add sugar and continue to bake until they start to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Some pieces will be darker than others. Add rum, being very careful not to let any drop fall into the fire, otherwise it will ignite. Let alcohol evaporate and cook a bit longer, until the apple slices are caramelized and have lost their liquid, but don´t let them turn into mush. Transfer apples to a bowl and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350º F / 180º C.

Bake cheesecake base for 20 minutes, until dry and beginning to color. In the meantime, prepare the cream cheese batter.

For the cream cheese mixture: While dough base is baking, put cream cheese in a large bowl. Add sugar and mix well with a whisk or a handheld electric mixer. The mixture should be completely smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing just to get an even batter. Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

Distribute apples on top of baked cheesecake base. Carefully pour cheesecake mixture over apples, covering completely.

Bake at 350ºF for 35 minutes, lower the tº to 300º and bake for another 45 minutes. The cake will be jiggly. Turn the oven off and, without opening the door, let the cheesecake inside for at least 1 hour.

Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. It keeps, refrigerated, for 3 days.
When ready to serve, unmold onto pie dish and arrange 8 caramelized apple slices (1 apple) in a circle.
Serves 8

Do you have some favorite Autumn Apple Recipes to share?  We would love for you to share your favorite apple recipes during our #SundaySupper live chat at 7pm (Eastern) today.

For now, here´s our incredible list of apple recipes: 

Soups, Salads, Starters and Breads

§                     Cinnamon Apple Chips- Shockingly Delicious

§                     Apple Celery Salad- In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene

§                     Mini Apple Pumpkin Pancakes – The Daily Dish Recipes

§                     Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast- In the Kitchen with KP

§                     Curried Apple and Leek Soup-Soni’s Food for Thought

§                     Endive Spears Topped With Apple, Blue Cheese and Hazelnut Salad- The Hand That Rocks the Ladle

§                     Homemade Apple Jam – My Trials in the Kitchen

§                     Caramel Apple Butter Cheesecake Dip- Chocolate Moosey

§                     Caramel Apple Bread – famfriendsfood

§                     Apple Pie Bread Baker Street

§                     Apple, Bacon & Brie Popovers- I Run for Wine

§                     Apple and Almond Brie Puff Pastry- Family Foodie

§                     Apple, Leek and Gruyere Tarts- There and Back Again

Main Meals

§                     Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin- The Meltaways

§                     Apple-Glazed Meatballs- The Messy Baker

§                     Apples & Buttons (Ham, Apples and Dumplings)- Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

§                     Skillet Pork with Sweet Spiced Apples- Mama Mommy Mom

§                     Chicken Apple Meatloaf with Tarragon Tomato Sauce – Diabetic Foodie

§                     Baked Tilapia Apple Crisp- Daddy Knows Less

§                     Pork Tenderloin with Calvados Cream Sauce Sustainable Dad

§                     #SundaySupper Pulled Pork Sandwich With Pickled Red Onions Kwistin’s Favorites

Sides

§                     Harvest Rice- Webicurean

§                     Wild Rice with Apples, Dried Cranberries, and Walnuts – Ruffles and Truffles

§                     Apple Topped Sweet Potato Mash- Momma’s Meals

§                     Warm Spice Pecan Raisin Apple Chutney- Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Desserts

§                     Double Apple Pot Pie- What Smells So Good?

§                     Apple Walnut Coffee Cake- The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

§                     Apple Streusel Cobbler- Big Bear’s Wife

§                     Apple & Moroccan Cinnamon Gooey Sticky Buns- Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends

§                     Spiced Caramel Apple Pie-Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence

§                     Apple Pear Kuchen for #SundaySupper (Apfel Birnen Kuchen)- Galactosemia in PDX

§                     Apple Strudel - Magnolia Days

§                     Old Fashioned Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce-Noshing with the Nolands

§                     Apple Cheesecake- Vintage Kitchen

§                     Caramel Apple Crumble Bars- Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks

§                     Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting- From Fast Food to Fresh Food

§                     Cinnamon Apple Dessert Chimichangas- Juanita’s Cocina

§                     Nutella Apple Quesadilla- Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

§                     Apple Crisp Ice Cream- Cravings of a Lunatic

§                     Bavarian Apple Torte- The Lovely Pantry

§                     Streusel Apple Crumb Pie + Pie Freezer Kits- Meal Planning Magic

§                     French Apple Cobbler with Cinnamon-Maple Whipped Cream Weekend Gourmet

§                     Chunky Apple-Apricot Bread Pudding- Comfy Cuisine

§                     Apple Butter Spice Cake – Home Cooking Memories

§                     Apple Pie and Custard- Happy Baking Days

§                     #GlutenFree Deep Dish Carmel Apple Pie- Cooking Underwriter

§                     Apple Brownies That Skinny Chick Can Bake

§                     Country Apple Dumplings- Mom’s Test Kitchen

§                     Apple-Gingersnap Cookies- Tora’s Real Food

§                     Apple and Cranberry Turnovers- Flour on my Face

§                     Applesauce Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze- Hip Foodie Mom

§                     Caramel Frosted Apple Cookies- No One Likes Crumbley Cookies

§                     Apple and Pecans Cake- Basic N Delicious

§                     Apple Pull Apart Monkey Bread- Gotta Get Baked

Beverages

§                     Spiced Apple Ale Small Wallet Big Appetite

§                     Apple Chia Tea- Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again

Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper. We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm (Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite apple recipes! All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat! We’d also love to feature your apple recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers!