In anticipation of Rosh Hashanah, I got the urge to bake an apple topped cheesecake today. It’s not like I had nothing else to do, but you know, I do tend to get sidetracked. This is a combination of the 2 most favorite American desserts, cheesecake and apple pie, and although I’ve seen this combination many times, I never had the opportunity to try it. Big apple cheesecake is like a creamy apple-cinnamon coffee cake – comfort at it’s best. I baked this cake as the recipe said, with raw apples, but despite the fact that some of my tasters liked it that way, I think that next time I’d prefer to cook them first. (If you don’t eat walnuts on Rosh Hashanah, you may substitute any nut.)
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (I don’t know why they don’t sell it in crumbs! It would save us all so much work)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
FILLING
- 1 lb cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 cups very thin apple slices
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, butter, and walnuts.
3. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
4. To make filling, with an electric mixer set on medium speed, combine cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar, mixing until creamy.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing will after each addition.
6. Blend in vanilla and pour filling into crust. Set aside.
7. Toss apple slices with 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Here you have an option to leave the apples uncooked, in which case, they will be a little crunchy after baking, or you can lightly cook the mixture for 20-30 minutes on a low flame until the apples are softish and nicely carameled.
8. Spoon coated apple slices over filling and then sprinkle with walnuts. 
9. Bake for approx 1 1/2 hours.
10. Remove pan from oven, and let cool for about 2 hours.
11. Chill in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.
