I finally have guts…
I’ve thought about making food for contests for awhile now, but have always been chicken to do it. There is a lot of professional and home cook talent out there and I just don’t know how I compare. Well, I am finally taking a chance, cross your fingers, I may have a winner.
There is a new site called Food 52 and they are trying to make a cookbook based off of food bloggers recipes. Every week they have two contests you can enter and if you win your recipe goes into a published cookbook…It would be my 15 minutes!
This weeks contest is making an apple cake or a potato gratin. I chose to go after the apple cake. At first I was thinking about making a Upside Down Apple Caramel Cake, but once I looked over my competition, I realized that there were quite a few people who already came up with that idea. So, I put my thinking cap on and tried to come up with a cake that no one else would think about making. I came up with an apple cheesecake!
Apple Spiced Cheesecake with Rum Caramel Sauce
I actually had a hard time with the engineering of this cake. Originally I wanted to put the apple mixture at the bottom of the cheesecake so it would be like this…Gingersnap crust layer, apple spice layer, cheesecake layer, caramel drizzle with walnut layer. I thought it would look amazing this way and in retrospect, I am going to try that next time I make this. To be on the safe side though, I put the apple spice layer on top of the cheesecake…It did the trick.
Brook got into the action. She helped me chop apples…
Brook Chopping the Apples with Her Safety Knife
She also helped me pour each egg into the cheesecake batter and she put all the pre-measured ingredients in…
Brook with the Cheesecake Mixture...She Helped Pour in the Measured Ingredients and the Eggs
After we mixed everything…we poured the cheesecake on to the gingersnap crust…
Brook and I Making Cheesecake
Then I placed the spiced apple mixture on top of the cheesecake base…it looked like this before it went into the oven…
Apple Spiced Cheesecake Before Going Into the Oven
So, this puppy baked forever…It’s okay though, I needed that time to clean up the kitchen…this cake is time consuming and messy to make, but I have to say after trying it out today, it is well worth it.
The cake took so long to bake in the oven, that I asked my neighbor Scott to come by our house to take it out of the oven. We promised Brook we would go to a movie and the cake was going make us miss the start time unless someone could help us out…so Scott, thanks! You helped a four year old and her family get to the movies on time.
Well, if you have read this far down, you must want the recipe. It’s an all day event, but sooooo worth making!
Here it is…
Close up of Finished Apple Cheesecake on a bed of Caramel
Spiced Apple Cheesecake with Caramel Rum Sauce
Spiced Apples
- 4 Medium Granny Smith Apples, Diced
- ½ c Brown Sugar
- 4 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Flour
- 3 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1 tbsp Vanilla
- ½ tbsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 1/3 tsp Ground Ginger
- ¼ tsp Ground Clove
- Pinch of Salt
In a heavy saucepan melt the butter and add apples. Stir for two minutes and then add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove and salt. Stir for another two to three minutes then add heavy cream and vanilla. Continue to stir for another 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir for a final 2 to 3 minutes. Take mixture off the heat and let cool before adding to cheesecake mixture.
Gingersnap Crust
- 2 cups Gingersnap Crumbs
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) Butter
- Pinch of Salt
Grind gingersnaps in food processor till they turn into crumbs. Put two cups of gingersnap crumbs into a bowl. Add sugar and salt, stir to combine. Melt the butter and add melted butter into gingersnap mixture. Stir till combined. Press gingersnap crust into cheesecake pan, making sure the crust is even and slightly going up the sides. Put into the refrigerator to set. Take out once cheesecake mixture is made.
Cheesecake
- 4 (8 ounce) Packages of Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 5 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
- 3 tbsp Flour
- 1 tbsp Vanilla
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- Pinch of Salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a standing mixer or a bowl with beaters, mix cream cheese, sugar, salt and flour until smooth. Scrap down the bowl and then add eggs one at a time. Don’t add a new egg until the previous one is well mixed in. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Finally, add heavy cream, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix until combined and scrape down the bowl once more.
Remove the cheesecake pan with the crust from the fridge. Add cream cheese mixture into springform pan. Take cooled spiced apple mixture and spoon onto the top of the cream cheese mixture.
Put cheesecake into the 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes turn down the oven to 250 degrees and bake for another two and a half hours. Cheesecake is done when the outer part is firm and the center is slightly soft.
Take out of the oven and let it cool on a rack. Once cooled you can cover and refrigerate.
Rum Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 6 tbsp Butter
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tbsp Spiced Rum
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- Pinch of Salt
- Chopped Toasted Walnuts (optional)
Put brown sugar, salt and butter in a medium saucepan. Stir until melted. Keep stirring until mixture comes to a boil. Turn the heat off and slowly stir in the heavy cream. Be careful because mixture will expand and foam up. Once it is combined, add spiced rum and vanilla. Turn heat back on and once mixture returns to a slight boil, turn stove off and remove from heat. Transfer to a glass or ceramic container and cool. Can store in the refrigerator. Caramel will thicken when cold. To soften, place container into the microwave for 10-20 seconds. Stir caramel.
To present cheesecake, slice cake and place on plate. Drizzle the rum caramel sauce on top of the cheesecake and if you want sprinkle some roasted chopped walnuts on top. You can also place the cheesecake over a small pool of caramel that is put on the serving plate first.
Serves 12-16
Happy Eating!
