Apple Cheesecake

Wednesdays at work we take turns making soup or dessert for our office lunch. Tomorrow is my turn for dessert and I made apple cheesecake. It is the perfect dessert for the beginning of my favorite season, fall.

Apple Cheesecake

Crumb Base
1 cup graham cracker crumbs, softened
½ cup finely chopped pecans
3 tablespoons white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling
2 (8 ounce) packages cream, softened
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups apples -peeled, cored, thinly sliced- about 3 large apples (microwave the sliced apples for two minutes to remove moisture)
¼ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup chopped pecans
½ cup of caramel topping- optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and melted butter; press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix at medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla; pour filling into the baked crust.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Toss the cinnamon-sugar with the apples to coat. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer and sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped pecans.

Bake at 350 in middle of oven for 60 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven additional 15 minutes. With a knife, loosen cake from rim of pan. Let cool, then remove the rim of pan. Chill cake before serving.

Optional ***Drizzle warmed caramel over top of slightly cooled cheesecake.