Caramel Apple Cheesecake
User Reviews
4.8
15 reviews
Excellent
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Prep Time
40 mins
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Cook Time
1 hr
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Additional Time
12 hrs
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Total Time
13 hrs 40 mins
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Servings
12
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Course
Cake
Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Report
A spiced brown sugar cheesecake pairs with cooked apples and salted caramel sauce for a decadent holiday dessert. This caramel apple cheesecake will have everyone asking for the recipe!
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Ingredients
For the crust:
- 8 ounces gingersnap cookies about 25 cookies, crushed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
For the cheesecake filling:
- 32 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- pinch of sea salt
For the apple topping:
- 3 large Honeycrisp apples peeled cored and sliced into ¼-inch slices
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons lightly packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
- salted caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Tightly wrap the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan in heavy duty foil. This step prevents leaks when using a water bath. I also take the extra step by placing the foil wrapped spring form pan inside an oven bag while baking, but this is optional. Lightly spray the springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together crushed gingersnap cookies and melted butter until thoroughly combined. Press the crumbs into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the prepared springform pan.
- Bake gingersnap crust in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and mix until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add in apple pie spice, vanilla, flour and salt and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Pour batter into the prepared crust.
- Place the springform pan into a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and pour boiling water into the larger pan until it is halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake for 60 minutes, the edges will appear to be set, but the center will still have a slight jiggle to it. At this point, turn off the oven, but leave the door cracked and allow the cheesecake to rest in the cooling oven for one hour.
- After one hour has passed, carefully remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cheesecake is completely cooled, place it into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
- Before serving, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the apples and sprinkle them with the brown sugar and apple pie spice. Saute over medium heat until the apples have softened a bit, but still have some texture to them. This should take just a few minutes. Once the apples are cooked to your desired level of doneness, remove them from the heat and allow them to cool completely.
- Top cheesecake slices with apples and caramel sauce just before serving.
Notes
- You can skip the foil and oven bag for the water bath by placing your 9-inch springform pan into a 10-inch cake pan. Set this entire thing into the roasting pan, then add the boiling water into the roasting pan, outside of the 10-inch pan. This will still let the water bath do its job without the danger of any leaks.
- I recommend keeping the cheesecake, apples and caramel separate until just before serving for the best texture as the cooked apples can soften up the top of the cheesecake.
- Helpful resources:
- You will need room-temperature cream cheese and eggs for the filling of this caramel apple cheesecake. Make sure you know
- how to soften cream cheese
- and
- how to bring eggs to room temperature
- .
- Brown sugar is used in the cheesecake filling and in the apple topping. If you run out, learn how to make an easy
- brown sugar substitute
- to use instead.
- Don’t panic if your brown sugar hardens in the pantry. Learn some tricks for
- softening brown sugar
- and save yourself a trip to the store.
- how to bake cheesecake in a water bath
- .
- You will need room-temperature cream cheese and eggs for the filling of this caramel apple cheesecake. Make sure you know how to soften cream cheese and how to bring eggs to room temperature.
- Brown sugar is used in the cheesecake filling and in the apple topping. If you run out, learn how to make an easy brown sugar substitute to use instead.
- Don’t panic if your brown sugar hardens in the pantry. Learn some tricks for softening brown sugar and save yourself a trip to the store.
- I recommend baking this cheesecake using a water bath. If you’ve never done this before, I have a post that walks you through how to bake cheesecake in a water bath.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.8
15 reviews
Excellent
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