CARAMEL EARL GREY APPLE CHEESECAKE

So I am officially in Seattle! Weird feeling. We've been here for a week and I figure that's plenty of time to start baking, so I am currently whipping up a basket of goodies for my new neighbors. In the meantime, I figure it best to take this boring time before I find a job to update the ol blog. I managed to actually find quite a bit of time to bake over the course of the last month, especially considering that I was staying with my fabulous sister and her roommates who love baked goods as much as I do and were more than happy to let me test a few things out on them.

It turned out to be a lovely month living with the ladies on Evergreen Ave and I got to bake even more than I planned. There are a couple of things that won't show up on the blog, including an excursion in Peanut Butter Pumpkin Pie for a peanut-butter-lover of a friend of mine (which turned out surprisingly delicious) and a Garlic Cream Penne with Shrimp that I can't remember how I made. There were also quite a few challenges in the equipment department and my pictures suffered, but I'll do my best to catch up.

So let's start here. With my favorite recipe of the last few months, by far.

While I was in San Fran, I bought a fruit salad at a little cafe in the Haight. The apples in said fruit salad tasted like they had been steeped in Earl Grey tea and they were absolutely amazing. I haven't been able to get them out of my mind for quite some time, so when I saw this recipe for Caramel Earl Grey Apple Cheesecake, given my current constant desire for apple-y baked goods, I absolutely could not resist.

I made it twice, first a double recipe in a huge springform pan at my parents house, and then mini ones in a cupcake tin for my dear friend Lisa's birthday. When I made the mini version, I tried to use ginger snaps for the crust by just putting a gingersnap at the bottom of each cupcake cup. Turns out I probably should have ground them up because ginger snaps don't respond ideally to being baked whole. It still tasted good, but I wouldn't recommend it.

So here it is then:

Recipe Soundtrack: "Glass Concrete and Stone" by David Byrne

CARAMEL EARL GREY APPLE CHEESECAKE
Adapted from Yue's Handicrafts

Caramel & Earl Grey Apples

4 apples

100g sugar

100g unsalted butter

4 teabag of earl grey tea (The original recipe called for 2 - I used 4)

4 tbsp of lemon juice

Peel, core & slice apples into small slices.

Combine butter, sugar & teabag in a small saucepan, cook until golden colour.

Reduce the heat, add in apple slices & lemon juice, cook until apples soften.

Remove from heating & set aside for cooling.

Crust

140g graham cracker crumbs

80g unsalted butter (melted)

Mix the ingredients & press into a springform pan. (I used a 9 inch)

Arrange the caramel & earl grey apple slices at the bottom, refrigerate before use.

Cheesecake filling

400g cream cheese
2 egg (slightly beaten)
140g whipping cream
120g light soft brown sugar

Whisk cream cheese & sugar until smooth. Gradually blend in whipping cream & egg. Pour into the prepared pan & wrap the pan with double layer of aluminium foil. Bake in a hot water bath for 40-60 min in a preheated oven at 300º F
Remove from the oven & cool in the pan to room temperature. Cool further in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving, if you can do it overnight, it's much better.

My Mini's caved in a little bit, but I've decided not to worry about it. They were delicious.

Anyway, this recipe is totally going in my arsenal. This cheesecake is awesome. Make it. You won't regret it.