Spiced Apple Cheesecake - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

Presented by Johnson & Wales University
Spiced Apple Cheesecake with a Bourbon Caramel Sauce

Crust:

2 cups ground graham cracker

1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon

1 stick of butter

1 T sugar

Filling:

1 lb cream cheese- room temp.

3 eggs

1-cup sugar

1-pint sour cream

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Spiced swirl-

1 cup of filling

¼ tsp. fresh ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground clove.

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 T brown sugar

Apples:

1 large gala apple- small diced

1/8 cup sugar

Sauce:

½ cup sugar

¼ cup water

¼ cup bourbon

¼ cup heavy cream

For the crust: Melt the butter and combine with the cinnamon and graham cracker. Put into the bottom of a pie pan and press it down to compress it. Mix apples and sugar and let sit for 10 min. then place the apple pieces on top of the crust. For the filling: cream the cream cheese and the sugar (do not over beat) then add in eggs one at a time and then the sour cream and the vanilla. Be sure not to over beat the filling. Pull out 1 cup of the filling and place in a bowl. Pour the remaining filling into the pie pan. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar to the cup of filling that you put off to the side. Pour that on top of the filling in the pie pan and swirl it in. be sure not to mix it completely together. Boil water and place the pie pan inside of a deeper baking pan and pour boiling water around the pie pan. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 45 min. when finished turn off the oven and open the door for 1 minute then close the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 30 minutes. Then place on a wire rack and finish cooling. To make the sauce combine sugar and water and let boil until it turns a slightly copper brown color. Turn off the heat and add in bourbon and heavy cream and stir to incorporate. (Be careful sugar caramelizes around 340 degrees)