Caramel Apple Crisp Cheesecake

Source: a mix of Mel and my Uncle Bryan (cheesecake maker, extraordinaire)

Yield:
1 9-inch round cheesecake + an extra oval casserole dish of cheesecake bars (not quite as thick as a traditional cheesecake, but just as delicious)

Ingredients:
for the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

for the cheesecake:
1 cup granulated sugar
24 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
2 cans apple pie filling
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon

for the streusel topping:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup quick cooking oats

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

for the caramel sauce:

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cups half-and-half or cream

pinch of salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla

(or you can just use your favorite stuff from the store, which is what I did the first time)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the streusel, in a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

For the crust, in a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9-inch spring-form pan.  (I had enough extra crust mixture to press into a small oval 1.5 qt casserole dish, too.) Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Decrease oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

For the cheesecake part, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla using a hand mixer.  Mix until smooth.  Add eggs and mix until incorporated.  Blend most of one can (enough to get you 1 cup blended) of apple pie filling until smooth. Add blended apple pie filling, sour cream and cinnamon to the cream cheese mixture. Blend with hand mixer until ingredients are incorporated (avoid over mixing to reduce cracking).  Pour filling into crust.  Evenly add apples from remaining cans of apple pie filling on top of the cheesecake mixture (you don't need to use all of the filing, just the apples).  (My 9-inch springform would have overflowed with all the cheesecake filling, so I added some to the small oval casserole mentioned above - it wasn't as thick as in the springform pan, but it worked great.  I had enough apples from the filling to cover the top of it, as well.)

Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples.  (You may notice the amounts above are a half-batch of Mel's recipe - it was plenty to cover both my 9-inch round cheesecake, plus my "extra" oval casserole dish.)

Place a cake pan half-filled with water on the bottom rack of the oven.  Place cheesecake on top oven rack in middle of oven directly above the cake pan.  Bake for approximately 1 3/4 to 2 hours (the cheesecake is done when the top is lightly browned and is puffy and starting to show some cracks).

Remove from oven, cool for approximately 2-3 hours to room temperature, and then refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight.

Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

For the caramel sauce, mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.  (Or you can always just use store-bought caramel sauce of your choosing - that's what I did the first time and it was fantastic.  Actually, come to think of it, I didn't even serve it at the party with caramel sauce at all.  I only drizzled the leftovers with some caramel ice cream topping we had in our fridge after we got home.)

Notes:

For my grandpa's birthday in March (he turned 88!) my aunt requested that I bring a cheesecake for dessert.  When I asked Gregg for ideas on what kind I should bring, he wondered if there was such a thing as an apple crisp cheesecake combo.  I knew right where to look, and by doing a little mixing and matching, I came up with the above recipe.  It was a hit with the crowd at the birthday party, as well as with my dishy husband, because he requested a repeat appearance of it for his birthday in June.  Since I wanted to make sure I remembered everything I did back in March (I hope what I've typed is accurate - my brain is getting a little fuzzy in my old age), I decided to return to the land of the neglected food blog to share my notes and keep them safe for next time I attempt this creation in a couple of weeks.  

I hope to be back for good!  I don't know why my recipe posting habits have disappeared since last July (oh wait . . . I had a baby 8 months ago . . . maybe that has something to do with it?) but it isn't because I haven't been cooking!  I have a huge list in my "to blog" file that I have been meaning to share, so I have a new goal to post one each day during naptime for your viewing (and making and eating) pleasure.  Baby steps.