Apple crumble cheesecake for 17th blog anniversary

It is the anniversary of my first blog post 17 years ago.  This year I celebrate with Sylvia's excellent choice of apple crumble cheesecake that she chose for her dad's birthday.  The cheesecake comprises a Biscoff crust, a creamy filling, caramelised spiced apples and an oaty crumble.  It was quite a challenge for us while we both felt so tired after a few busy days but a delight to eat with E the next day.

This cheesecake is perfect for anyone who loves both cheesecake and apple crumble.  The warmly spices in the Biscoff biscuit crust are the link between the cheesecake and the crumble.  The apples smelled amazing as they cooked with brown sugar and cinnamon.  I could have just eaten the apples warm off the stove. 

Once the four components are together, it seems simple to assemble.  Even while there is not much to do, there is still lots of waiting for baking, cooling and chilling.  But you have time to clean and blog and head out for a birthday meal at Borscht Vodka and Tears (which I will write more about).

It took so much longer to bake the cheesecake than the Teak and Thyme recipe directed.  My oven is slow so I assume that had an impact.  I also had quite a bit of thickened apple and cinnamon juices leftover once we put the apple slices on the cheesecake.  I just drizzled it over the apples.  Did it make the cheesecake take longer to cook?  I noticed that the cheesecake rose and fell as it baked.  My mum said this could happen if we beat the cheesecake mixture too much.  I really needed the electric beaters because no amount of hand mixing would have got those cream cheese lumps out.  That is the cream cheese we took out of the fridge in the morning.  But I have been told that the firmer blocks of cream cheese are preferred than the spreadable type in a tub if I want a firm cheesecake.  The cheesecake sliced up nicely once chilled.  The only thing in the way was the apple slices being a bit awkward to slice.  Perhaps they were not cooked enough but I would do chunks of apple next time.  Both Sylvia and my mum said they would like more apples.

The cheesecake was a delicious dessert after our pierogi lunch.  The crunchy crust, smooth cheesecake filling, juicy apples and crunchy crumble all worked to make a decadent cheesecake.

E came over for a slice.  My parents went straight home after the lunch.  Sylvia was very thoughtful and organised to take some slices of cheesecake for them to take home.

As I always say on my blog anniversary, I am amazed to have got this far and hope to continue.  Life just keep changing and I always think the next change might make blogging hard.  The reality is that the blog is so much a part of what I do that it might well be the technological changes that stop it, if that is to happen.  However I have done a bit of work lately on refreshing my blog.  I have written a post about my blog housekeeping: headers, indexes and subscriptions.  If you are looking for reflections on my blog, this is a good start.  For now it is enough to have cheesecake and be happy to still be on my blog and that you are reading this!  Onwards and upwards!

More cheesecake recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Baked lemon cheesecake (gf)
Caramel chocolate cheesecakes 
Cherry chocolate cheesecake
Chocolate cheesecake with Easter nest
Lime and white chocolate cheesecake (gf) 
Vegan peach cheesecake (gf, v)

Apple Crumble Cheesecake

Slightly adapted from Teak and Thyme
Serves 10 or more

Biscoff Crust:

350 g Lotus biscoff biscuits (aka cookies)
150 g butter, melted

Crumble Topping:

55 g butter, melted
50 g plain white flour
50 g brown sugar
20 g rolled oats

Apple Topping:

3 tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced
50 g brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cornflour

Cheesecake Mixture: 

690 g cream cheese, room temperature
75 g castor sugar
100 g Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, room temperature

Biscoff Crust:

Finely crush the biscuits.  We did this in a food processor but it can also be done by placing in a ziplock plastic bag or paper bag and bashing with a rolling pin.  Mix with melted butter so it will clump together when pressed between your thumb and fingers.  

Grease and line a 22cm round springform cake tin.  Press biscuit crust mix into the cake tin around the base and sides.  Use a straight edged glass to smooth and flatten the crust, taking care to make sure that the edge between the base and sides is not too thick. Chill in fridge while you prepare the remaining components.

Crumble:

Stir all ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.  Ours was quite soft but once chilled it was quite easy to crumble.  Place in fridge to chill.

Apple Topping:

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Mix over low heat until the sugar melts and then increase to medium heat.  Cook, stirring regularly, until the apples are fork tender and the juices thicken to coat the apples.Set aside to cool.

Cheesecake mixture:

Before making this mixture, preheat oven to 150 C.  

Place the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and spices into a large mixing bowl.  Mix until smooth.  If you can use a spatula to do this, that is good.  I found no matter how much we mixed our room temperature cream cheese so we used electric beaters.  Add eggs and mix further just until smooth.

Assemble:

It is now time to assemble the cheesecake.  Pour the creamy Cheesecake Mixture into the Biscoff Crust.  Arrange pieces of the Apple Topping on top.  (I had spicy apple juices left in the saucepan so I drizzled it over my apple.)  Now break up the crumble into small chunks to scatter on the apples.

Bake and chill:

Bake cheesecake until the edge is not too wobbly but the middle wobbles a little.  The cheesecake cooks approximately 70 minutes but in our slow oven it took 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Once it is baked.  Turn off the oven, leave the door slightly open and leave until the cheesecake is room temperature.  Then chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight, before slicing.

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