Apple Pie Cheesecake

Apple Pie Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Cheesecake:
2 – 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp allspice

Apple pie:
4-5 medium apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Crumb topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp cinnamon

For this recipe you’ll need a 12″ spring form pan.

To make the crust, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and blend with a fork, pastry cutter or your fingers until well blended – it will look like big, soft crumbs. Press into the bottom and most of the way up the sides of a greased spring form pan.

To make the cheesecake layer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and allspice. Pour into the spring form pan on top of the crust.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Peel and core the apples, cut them into small pieces, and toss with sugar and spices to coat.  Pour the apple pieces over the top of the cheesecake.

Combine all of the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl and blend like you did the crust.  Cover the apple pie layer evenly with the crumb topping.

Bake for 12 minutes at 400F, then reduce the heat to 375F and bake for another 35 minutes.  The apple pie cheesecake will have puffed up a lot and will be quite jiggly, but if this is your first cheesecake don’t let that alarm you – it will return to its normal size and firm up as it cools.  

Let cool in the pan, then refrigerate.

Serves 12-16.

Apple Blackberry Pie

Apple Blackberry Pie

Ingredients
2 tbsp lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 granny smith apples
3 macintosh apples
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup instant tapioca
zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
2 pie crusts

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the lemon juice and vanilla in a large bowl.  Peel and slice the apples in 3/4 inch chunks and toss them in the bowl with the liquids as you go.

Add the blackberries, sugar, tapioca, lemon zest, and salt to the apples.

Line a deep dish 9″ pie pan with one of the pie crusts.  Fill with the apple-blackberry mixture and cover with the other pie crust.  Trim the edges and pinch them together firmly.  Cut holes in the top pie crust to let the steam out.  Bake in the oven for 50 minutes and voila!