Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake

Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake

If there's one thing I'm good at, it is making cheesecake. This is one of my newer cheesecake recipes. I get so many compliments, when I make this cheesecake. One of my daughter's proclaimed this, my best recipe ever. My son, even requested this for his birthday, last year. Mind you, he is the one, for whom the Fresno Jason's California Cheesecake was named.

I use a graham cracker base, that is spiced with cinnamon.

I use the filling base from,  Fresno Jason's California Cheesecake.

I add a generous topping, of home made apple pie filling.

An impressive crumble.

Michelle's Salted Caramel is the finishing touch.

I never said this recipe wasn't a lot of work! It is impressive though, and will quickly become a crowd favorite. I do hope you make it. If you share this recipe, please link back to this blog. 

APPLE CRUMBLE CHEESECAKE 

CRUST:

2 Sleeves cinnamon graham crackers, crushed

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

¾ Cup sugar

½ Cup butter, melted

CHEESECAKE FILLING:

1/3 Cup flour

1 ½ Cups sugar

5 (8 ounce) Packages Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

¾ Cup sour cream, room temperature

3 Whole eggs + 2 egg yolks, scrambled, room temperature

1 Teaspoon vanilla 

APPLE TOPPING:

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced

4 Tablespoons butter

1/3 Cup brown sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoons cinnamon 

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Cup apple cider (3 cups first press apple cider reduced to 1 cup)

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

CRUMBLE TOPPING:

1 1/4Cups flour

1 1/2 Teaspoons cinnamon

3 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 Cup butter, chopped

CARAMEL DRIZZLE:

1 Cup Sugar

¼ Cup water

¾ Cup heavy whipping cream

3 Tablespoons butter

1  Teaspoon flaked sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

*  Before you begin this recipe. Make sure the cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs are at room temperature. Make sure to reduce 3 cups fresh apple cider to 1 cup.

To make crust:  Combine graham crackers, cinnamon, and sugar, in a food processor. Blend until crackers are a fine crumb. Add melted butter; mixing well. Press graham cracker mixture into a springform pan, covering the bottom, and up the sides; as desired. Place springform pan on a baking tray, to catch any potential leaks. Bake at 350 for 7 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool completely.  Lower oven temperature to 275. 

To make filling:  Sift flour and sugar, in a small bowl. Set aside. In a large mixer, blend cream cheese and sour cream, until smooth. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Pour mixture into cooled crust. Run a butter knife through batter, to release air bubbles. Level batter with an offset spatula. Bake at 275, for 2 hours; until the middle of the cheesecake is firm. Cool cake to room temperature. Chill completely, in refrigerator. 

To make apple topping: in a small mixing bowl, combine apple juice, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Set aside. In a Dutch oven, cook apples, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, over medium heat; until apples start to soften. Stir in apple juice mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring, with a metal spatula, continually. Let mixture boil 1 minute. Cool. Refrigerate until ready to use. When reheating, add 1 Tablespoon apple juice. Reheat, just enough to melt the sauce.

To make crumble: Combine flour, cinnamon, and sugars, in a large mixing bowl. Using a mixer, or your hands, press butter into flour mixture, until the mixture looks clumpy. Bake in a sheet pan, at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes. Using a spatula, turn crumbles over every 10 minutes. Crumbles are done when they just start to turn lightly brown, and firm up. If you taste test one, it should be crispy.

To make caramel drizzle:

Pour sugar and water, in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then cut the heat back to medium high. Let sugar water turn a nice caramel color, without getting too dark. Remove from heat, then whisk in cream, salt and butter, until smooth. The cream will bubble, but using a large sauce pan helps to keep the sauce from bubbling over. Pour caramel into a mason jar. Let caramel cool slightly. Gently swirl in, the sea salt. Keep refrigerated. 

To assemble: Wrap the sides, of cheese cake, with a wide band of parchment. This will help keep the toppings from spilling over. Gently warm the apple pie topping, and distribute, evenly, over cheesecake. Top with crumbles. Drizzle with caramel.

YouTube demonstration: Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake