Crust:
- 2 cups ground Shortbread cookies
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Combine cookie crumbs, almonds, extract and butter and press into bottom, then sides of 9 inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Bottom layer:
- 4 medium NC Fuji apples
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
Peel and thinly slice apples. In a large nonstick frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the apples. Cook until apples are tender and remove from heat; set aside.
Cheesecake:
- 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix cream cheese with sugar until coarsely combined, add eggs, then lemon juice and vanilla extract. Mix until combined, but not more than 2 minutes. Set aside.
Cheesecake topping:
- 1 pint sour cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix in small bowl; set aside. Arrange half of the cooled apple slices on top of the cooled crust. Pour cheesecake mix over apples and bake at 330 degrees for 55 minutes. Using an oven safe bowl, place a bowl of water in the oven with the cake pan or set the cake pan on a cookie sheet and fill the cookie sheet with water. This will prevent the cheesecake from cracking.
At 55 minutes check to see if cake center has lost it’s shine. If not, cook 5 minutes more and check again. Once the center has set, remove cheesecake from oven and spread the topping on top, bake 10 more minutes and remove from oven. Cool completely then place in the freezer overnight. Remove the cheesecake from the pan by running hot water around the outside of the pan, flip onto a cake plate and return to the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from freezer, arrange the other half of the apples on top of the cheesecake and drizzle with Smuckers Salted Caramel topping.
Recipe by Susie Zuerner
