Absolutely Delish Apple Crumble Cheesecake!

The last time I was back in Malaysia for my winter holidays, I'd baked my dad an eggless marble double chocolate cheesecake for his birthday in January. It seems like they've been craving for a cheesecake made by yours truly ever since.

Secret Recipe, which is a huge bakery franchise in Malaysia, used to be famous for their marble cheesecakes. I remember growing up to Secret Recipe's marble cheesecakes for each and every birthday (altho.. for some reason, we hardly ever celebrated my dad's - something I'm making a point never to miss ever again) as they were my dad's favourite. For some reason, their marble cheesecakes don't taste as good as they used to and cost almost 50% more now.

So yesh... That means I'm most probably the source for my family's cheesecake cravings from now onwards =P. I've been back almost a month now and almost every single day since I've been back they've been dropping hints about that cheesecake I was supposed to make. Extremely heart-warming but a tad bit frustrating as I've been tied up.

Well, I finally got down to baking myself and the family an Apple Crumble Cheesecake yesterday. It turned out even better than I'd expected it to and every last bit was gone in less than 12 hours!! Will make a mental note to take more pictures of the finished product.

This recipe is adapted from More Than Words's version to fit a 10" springform pan.


Apple Crumble Cheesecake - 10"


Do take note that there are 3 parts to this Cheesecake:

1. Base
2. Filling - Apple & Cream Cheese
3. Crust (Crumble)

Base1 1/2 batches of my 'Digestive' cookies
100g baking chocolate

Filling
A. Apple (these are what I used, BUT next time around, I'll use 7-8 apples and adjust the rest accordingly - will update when I do)
     5  Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, diced
     1/4  cup   brown sugar
     2     tbsp  lemon juice
     1/2  tbsp  flour
     1/2  tsp    cinnamon powder

B. Cream Cheese
     750 g cream cheese, softened (3 packets Phil. cream cheese)
     1    cup  brown sugar (will reduce this to 1/2 cup next time around - felt it was a bit too sweet. Again, will update)
     3    tbsp lemon juice
     1/3 cup  cornflour (wanted less eggs, so added a bit more cornflour)
     1 1/4 cup(300 ml) whipping cream (35% cream)
     1    egg

Crust (Crumble on top)
1    cup flour

1/5 cup sugar

80  g     butter, cold (so don't take this out of the fridge until you need it)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 10" springform pan. 

For base:

1. Blend biscuits/cookies and baking chocolate in a food processor
2. Press the crumbs into the springform pan and refrigerate it.

For Filling:

1. Put all the ingredients for the apple filling into a saucepan, mix and cook til mixture thickens. Set aside.
2. Beat the cream cheese til it's creamy and has no lumps before adding the sugar and lemon juice. Mix til combined.
3. Add in the cornflour, followed by cream and then eggs. 

For crust (crumble on top):

1. Mix flour and sugar in a bowl. Rub in cold butter til it forms crumbs.

Final steps:

1. Pour half the cream cheese mixture on top of the base, followed by all the apple mixture and the remaining cream cheese mixture.
2. Add the crumbly crust on top

Bake for 45 - 60 mins with some water underneath the pan (I didn't use a water bath - I used something more like a steam bath where you put a bowl of water a few rings under the pan.)

Once done, let it cool in the oven for 1/2 hour, then cool outside for about 1-2 hours before refrigerating it. My brother was impatient, so he didn't wait long enough for it to set before taking his first slice. I'd give it around 8-12 hours, so best make this cheesecake before sleeping and let it stay in the fridge overnight for it to really set.