Pecan, Apple and Salted Caramel Cheesecake

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If you're on a diet, this isn't the recipe for you! It's a recipe for a special occasion, and as our French friends were coming to stay for a few days, I thought this was one of those occasions.

It's another case of using up ingredients that are near their 'use by' dates; this time it was a tin of Carnation Caramel, a bag of pecans and a few Granny Smith apples.
The idea for a cheesecake came from a programme I watched on Food Network - the chef was using walnuts and apples in a cheesecake.

So what you have is the usual biscuit layer at the bottom, then a layer of the salted caramel, a layer of chopped pecans, a layer of apple purée, then the cheesecake and topping it off some whipped cream with a drizzle or so of the salted caramel. What's not to like?

You need a 23cm springform tin or the same sized pie dish. Preheat oven 180C/gas4.

To make the biscuit base - mix together 12 digestive biscuits with 3 tbspn caster sugar and a tspn of cinnamon. Melt 75g butter, add to the biscuit mixture and bring together with a fork. Press it into the tin, coming about 2/3 of the way up the sides. Bake for about 8 mins till golden, then leave to cool.

For the caramel and pecan layer you need a tin of caramel and 125g pecans, roughly chopped.
Spread a layer of caramel over the biscuit base, then sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Keep a few pecans back to sprinkle on the top. Put in the fridge.

Peel, core and slice 5 Granny Smith apples. Melt 75g of butter in a pan then add 80g light brown sugar, 1 tspn cinnamon, 1/2 tspn salt and simmer gently for a minute or so. Add the apples till soft - about 10 mins; cool, then spoon over the pecans.

For the cheesecake - beat together 250g cream cheese with 50g sugar using an electric mixer, till mixture is smooth. Add an egg and beat again. Then add 1 tbspn lemon juice and 1 tspn vanilla extract and beat in. Pour this over the apple and smooth over. Bake till the cheesecake is set - about 30 mins. Cool the cheesecake in the tin, then put in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.

Remove the cheesecake from the tin; whip 200ml of double cream and spread over the top. Drop a few spoonfuls of caramel over the cream and swirl. Sprinkle with the leftover pecans and serve.
Keep any leftovers in the fridge.




This is a rich cheesecake; maybe the cream is unnecessary, but it adds more luxury. Our friends loved it; the soft biscuit base, then the sweet caramel, the crunchy nuts, the soft smooth apple and the silky cheesecake finished off by cream and a swirl of the soft caramel. Certainly a special occasion dessert.





Comments

Suelle said…
This sounds very inventive - I wouldn't have thought of putting a layer of apples under a cheesecake topping. You've made it look very attractive too!
11/2/15 5:41 am
thecelticcookinshanghai said…
Apples and caramel together in a cheesecake!!!!! I don't do nuts but guess I could just leave them out. You have lucky friends. Hope you had fun together.
12/2/15 11:27 pm
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