October in Pennsylvania is such a great time! Leaves are changing, fall colors of red, orange, gold and beautiful brown tones are all around, and the foods associated with it are FANTASTIC! Hearty soups made from vegetables like butternut squash, zucchini, potatoes, onions, chicken and stew meats….yum! But the baked goods! Oh my! Apples, pears, caramel, pumpkin…just to name a few!
So of course I have to join in and make the most of these delicious goods! I dug up a recipe I have had for about 40 years (OUCH)! PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE! I still have my handwritten paper recipe that I have some notes on. If I remember, you could add Amaretto Liqueur but I feel the Salted Caramel from Crown Royal really kicks it up a notch! And then by adding some vanilla ice cream and the homemade caramel sauce from my friend Sue, just puts it over the top!
I had a couple snafus when I practiced this. The instructions say to cook the cheesecake in a water bath, but that didn’t go too well. So no need to do that! It came out just fine putting in the oven on its own! I also tried to melt caramels by themselves, and not with any milk or cream….BIG MISTAKE! When I went to pour it on the cheesecake, it hardened up and I couldn’t slice the cheesecake without creating a mushy mess! I’m great at learning by my mistakes! And don’t worry about the water bath! Just put it right in the oven!
This recipe is really pretty easy to make, as it only has 2, 8 oz. packages of cream cheese and therefore easy to handle in the mixer. Some cheesecakes use 3 packages, and it can be a lot for a standard mixer to mix together.
Hey, if you need to simplify things a little, don’t hesitate to buy the apple filling in your baked good aisle, or a premade caramel sauce! I rally loved the texture and creaminess of vanilla ice cream with it, but whipped cream is great too! Throw some chopped walnuts or pecans on it! Get creative! I served it for a family dinner and they really loved it! I think it’s going to be a Holiday dessert at my table this year! Hopefully yours too!
So until next time…..
Let’s get cookin’ and bakin’
Madeline
Pumpkin Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Equipment
- Stand or hand mixer
- 9" Springform Pan
- Medium size sauce pot (for the apples and caramel)
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ¼ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup melted butter (5 tablespoons)
Batter
- 16 ounces cream cheese (2, 8 ounce packages)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups pumpkin (16 ounces Libby's canned pumpkin)
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp Salted Caramel Liqueur (Crown Royal)
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Apple Topping
- 2 cups diced apples granny smith or Macintosh)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp Salted Caramel Liqueur
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- In a 9" springform pan, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.
- Using the back of a spoon or your fingers, press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the pan and up the sides about an inch.
- Bake 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Batter
- In a large mixing bowl, whip cream cheese until smooth.
- Stir in brown sugar and blend thoroughly.
- Stir in pumpkin.
- Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.
- Stir in remaining ingredients.
- Pour mixture into prepared crust.
- Bake for 1 hour or until cake tester is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
Apple Topping
- Dice apples and place in medium saucepot.
- Turn burner on to low-medium heat.
- Add sugar and spices. Stir to combine.
- Add Salted Caramel Liqueur and blend well.
- Turn heat up to medium, and continue to stir while the apples cook and get thick, about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- Once cake is cooled, spread apple topping on top of the cake, covering the top.
- Remove sides of springform pan.
- Cut cake in slices, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Drizzle with Madeline's homemade caramel sauce or a prepared caramel sauce.
- Keep refrigerated.
- Enjoy!
Notes
