“One of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had”
As the holiday parties are approaching, it is always hard to find a dish to bring that everyone will love. This Thanksgiving, I tested out an apple crumb cheesecake from Teak & Thyme and added a cream cheese frosting recipe from Frosting & Fettuccine on top. This recipe got praise from family and friends as being “one of the best cheesecakes they’ve ever had.” In the past, I have made a good number of cheesecakes for Thanksgiving, including a Biscoff cheesecake last year, that caught everyone’s attention. This year I decided to do something different and somewhat easier.
This recipe was separated into five parts: crust, crumble topping, apple topping, cheesecake, and cream cheese icing.
Crust: The crust was one of the easiest parts of the recipe with the ingredients only calling for unsalted melted butter and Biscoff cookies. You can either smash the cookies with a rolling pin or put them in the food processor for a more even layer.
- Lotus Biscoff cookies
- Unsalted melted butter
Apple topping: For this recipe, tart apples were recommended. I used Honeycrisp because I thought they would be the best for this recipe but they fall more on the sweeter side. Some tart apple options would be Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and McIntosh. As for cutting them, I cut my 3 apples pretty small to make them less chunky and evened out across the cheesecake. It is important to put the apples in a saucepan on medium heat for about 12-15 minutes. It is important to let the apples get fork-tender and let the juices mix in with the brown sugar and cinnamon. At the end of the 12-15 minutes, the apples will be soft and the juices will turn into a jam consistency.
- 3 tart apples
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Cornstarch
Crumble topping: The crumble topping goes on top of the apples and is the last step before sticking the cheesecake in the oven.
- Unsalted melted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Rolled oats
Cheesecake: This can be the hardest part of the recipe for some people and you can easily mess it up. Make sure that your cream cheese is completely softened at room temperature so that it doesn’t form any clumps while you’re mixing it. I made this mistake the first time I made a cheesecake and it turned out BAD. Also, make sure that your eggs are at room temperature as well and you add them one at a time when mixing them in. I recommend using a hand mixer when making your cheesecake because it helps get out the clumps and gets the job done faster.
- Cream cheese at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Greek yogurt
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground nutmeg
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
Cream Cheese Icing: This was something that wasn’t a part of Teak & Thyme’s original recipe. When I pulled the cheesecake out the following day, I felt like the cheesecake was missing something essential to bring all the flavors together. That is when I decided to make the cream cheese icing to lay on top. I am so glad I made this last-minute choice because I felt like it was the perfect cherry on top for this amazing recipe. Frosting & Fettuccine’s recipe does not contain almond milk but I added it to make it more of a liquid consistency.
- Cream cheese at room temperature
- Vanilla
- Powdered sugar
- Almond milk
Assembling the cheesecake:
Make sure that your crust is the first thing you do so you can put it in the fridge to chill. When you are ready to assemble the cake, bring it back out and pour the cheesecake filling on top. Then carefully place the apples on top of the cheesecake so that they won’t sink. Then finally put the crumble later on top and bake at 325F for 65-70 minutes. It is important to make sure that when you take your cheesecake out that you let it sit until it hits room temperature before sticking it in the fridge. The cheesecake can last up to 5-7 days in the fridge but I recommend wrapping the leftovers and putting it in the freezer. This way you can have a slice whenever and it’s as good as when you first made it.
I hope that you enjoy Teak & Thyme’s recipe for their apple crumble cheesecake and enjoy eating it as much as I do. Happy holidays!