Apple of Your Eye Cheesecake
My most-often-requested dessert, this exquisite cheesecake with apples, caramel, and pecans wins me more compliments than anything else I make. My husbands co-workers say its too pretty to cut but agree its well worth it to do so.
My most-often-requested dessert, this exquisite cheesecake with apples, caramel, and pecans wins me more compliments than anything else I make. My husbands co-workers say its too pretty to cut but agree its well worth it to do so.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- filling:
- 24 oz cream cheese softened
- topping:
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs about 16 squares
- 2 tablespoons pecans finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-1/2 cups apples chopped & peeled
- 6 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping divided
- sweetened whipped cream
- Carbohydrate 18.1630972182658 g
- Cholesterol 160.23665916623 mg
- Fat 37.8839975904283 g
- Fiber 1.4184666367886 g
- Protein 6.78674968962929 g
- Saturated Fat 20.8862249959929 g
- Serving Size 1 1 (198g)
- Sodium 5836.34393261975 mg
- Sugar 16.7446305814772 g
- Trans Fat 3.95287430831926 g
- Calories 430 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large bowl, combine the crackers, sugar, pecans and cinnamon; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of a lightly greased 9-in. springform pan. Place pan a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour over crust. Toss apples with lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon; spoon over filling. Return pan to baking sheet.
- Bake at for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons caramel topping. Cool for 1 hour. Chill overnight.
- Just before serving, garnish with whipped cream. Drizzle with remaining caramel; sprinkle with pecans. Store in refrigerator.
Unlisted in the quantities of dairy and fruit is the structural physics governing how a dense custard manages moisture migration over twenty-four hours. Chilling overnight transforms a loosely set center into a dense, cohesive wedge by allowing the milk proteins in the 24 ounces of cream cheese to fully re-network after baking. Without that 8-hour thermal reset in the refrigerator, the warm apple layer releases excess water directly into the crumb base, turning the graham crust soggy. Equipment management dictates success here as much as chemistry does. Using a 9-inch springform pan requires placing the assembly onto a baking sheet before it goes into the 350-degree oven, catching any butter leaks from the crust before they hit the heating elements and smoke. Loosening the crust from the pan edges with a knife precisely 10 minutes after baking prevents the contracting custard from tearing against the metal walls. Leftovers taste noticeably better on the second day because the cold temperature mutes the sharp sweetness of the caramel topping, allowing the butterfat to coat the palate longer. Stored properly in the refrigerator, the dessert maintains structural integrity for up to four days without the crust absorbing moisture from the whipped cream garnish. Swapping standard graham crackers for digestive biscuits yields a sturdier base with less residual sugar.
