Apple Crumble Cheesecake

Cannot decide if you want a creamy baked cheesecake or a warm apple crumble (a.k.a Apple Crisp)? Well, there’s no need to decide! Have both of these delicious desserts by making an Apple Crumble Cheesecake! A ridiculously creamy and silky cheesecake with a buttery digestive biscuit base is topped with delicious apples and a crumble topping, then baked and decorated with sweet fudge! Simply the best dessert for the apple season!

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Why You Will Love Apple Crumble Cheesecake

• Perfect fall dessert – do I need to say more?
• Combines two of the best desserts known to man: apple crumble and a creamy cheesecake. 
• Delicious dessert idea for the apple season! Just like Apple Frangipane Tart, Apple Crumble Tart and Sourdough Apple Fritters.
• Easily adaptable to make in a square/ rectangular roasting pan and cut into Apple Crumble Cheesecake Bars.
• Decadent dessert – the cheesecake layer in this recipe is divine, as it is enhanced with the juices from the apples cooking on top. 

Tips and Tricks for Creamy Cheesecake

Cheesecake can be the best most creamy dessert ever, but there are a few things that can go wrong with this delicious cake. To ensure the best results, we have put together an extensive list of How To Prevent Your Cheesecake From Cracking. The main points to remember are: 

• Use room temperature ingredients for the filling.
• Fold the eggs in gently – don’t beat them! 
• Cook your cheesecake in a water bath.
• Don’t overcook – turn the oven off when the middle of the cheesecake is still jiggly. 
• Cool your cheesecake gradually. 

Read more about it here. If you follow the steps, we assure you that you will have an amazingly creamy cheesecake, free from cracks and cooked to perfection!

Cooking Cheesecake in Water Bath

I always bake my cheesecakes in a water bath (bain-marie) in order to prevent them from cracking. Some say it is a myth that cheesecakes like humid environments, but from my experience it is true. 

First, wrap your springform tin in aluminum foil, that seals the bottom and at least ¾ of the sides to stop the water from sipping into the cheesecake. Simmering water that surrounds your cheesecake creates a moist and steamy atmosphere that keeps the cake from drying out and, therefore, cracking. Here are the main things to know about bain-marie for your cheesecake:

• Use hot water. This will ensure the temperature in your pre-heated oven doesn’t drop too much and the cheesecake will bake at the right temperature from the start.
• Don’t overfill the tray with water, you don’t want it to splash into the cheesecake when it comes to the boiling point in the oven.
• Make sure you wrap your cheesecake tin with foil high enough up the sides and ensure your foil doesn’t tear. You really don’t want any water seeping in (and most springform cake tins aren’t exactly leak-proof). I highly recommend Kirkland Signature Foil (the price may look steep, but it’s 200m of foil!)

What Apples to Use?

Choose crisp and juicy apples that are as fresh as you can get them. Firm texture means that the apples keep their shape and don’t fully disintegrate whilst cooking, adding extra texture to your apple crumble cheesecake. Here are some of the best apples to use:

• Pink Lady: a slightly sweeter, but extremely crisp and juicy type of apple that adds great texture and effervescent flavour to your caramel apple crumble cheesecake. 
• Gala Apples: a good allrounder, but note that it softens more than the others when cooking, so if you want to retain some texture, slice them thicker. 
• Braeburn: slightly more acidic than the Pink Lady, Braeburns are a great choice for a more tangy flavour, that pairs extremely well with the cinnamon in the crumble topping. 
• Granny Smith: the most tart of the three, Granny Smith apples are for those who enjoy slightly less sweetness in exchange for citrusy zing. We love tart apples in desserts to balance out the sweetness of the cream cheese filling.  

Ingredients

For The Base

• digestive biscuits: plain, without chocolate. Alternatively, substitute them with gingernut biscuits for a bit of ginger heat in the crust. You may also make it with a traditional crust using graham crackers.  
• unsalted butter: will be melted and mixed with the biscuits. Salted butter will work too, adding a ‘salted caramel’ effect when paired with apples and fudge on top. 

For Cheesecake Filling

• cream cheese: choose full-fat cheese for an extra creamy cheesecake and make sure you take it out of the fridge in advance to bring it to room temperature.
• caster sugar: or white granulated sugar. 
• creme fraiche: can be substituted with sour cream, but make sure it is at room temperature.
• eggs: again, at room temperature. If you are in the UK, use medium eggs, and if you’re in the US, large eggs. 
• vanilla extract: optional. 

For The Cinnamon Apples

• apples: read about the type of apples to use in the section above. 
• cinnamon
• light brown sugar

For Apple Crumble Topping

• plain flour: also known as all-purpose flour. 
• cinnamon
• light brown sugar: or caster sugar if that’s what you have, however, brown sugar adds a caramelly molasses flavour to the crumble topping which is what this cheesecake is all about. 
• cold butter: unsalted or salted. 
• fudge. 

Method

Make The Crust

Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan. Grease an 18cm (7in) springform pan with butter and line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment paper. Wrap foil on the bottom and up the outside walls of the springform cake tin.

Smash the digestive biscuits with the back of a rolling pin in a large mixing bowl (or blitz them in a food processor). You may also use graham cracker crumbs. Place the crumbs into a medium bowl. Pour in the melted butter and mix until all the biscuit crumbs are coated (the mixture should resemble wet sand). Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and press firmly down to the base of the tin to form an even layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes.

Take the tin out of the oven and leave it to cool down, whilst you make the cheesecake filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 150 °C Fan.

Prepare the Apple Topping

Toss the sliced apples with a little bit of lemon juice to prevent them from going brown. Then cover then lightly with sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Make the Crumble

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture to form coarse breadcrumbs.

Make The Cheesecake Filling

Using an electric mixer beat the room temperature cream cheese and caster sugar for about 2-3 minutes on medium speed until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the creme fraiche and beat again.

One by one add the eggs in and gently mix them in, just enough to incorporate them into the cheesecake mixture. (don’t use an electric hand mixer to beat in the eggs – it will pump in too much air into your creamy cheesecake filling).

Assemble, Cook and Cool

Place the cheesecake form in a baking tray with high rims (this will act as a water bath). Tip the cheesecake batter into the cake tin, on top of your biscuit base. Smooth out the top using a spatula.

Carefully place the cinnamon sugar apples over the layer of cheesecake, discarding any juices that may have been released from the apples.

Scatter the crumble mixture over the top.

Pour about 1.5-2cm of hot water into the baking tray around the cheesecake (the foil will protect the cheesecake from water seeping in). Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes at 150°C.

Your cheesecake should be set around the outer edges, but still have a good 7-8 cm wobble in the middle (the middle will cook in the residual heat).

Leave the cheesecake in the closed oven for about 1 hour. Then open the oven door and leave it for another 30 minutes. Take it out and cool completely at room temperature before transferring it to the fridge to chill for at least 5 hours! Take it out of the cheesecake pan and decorate it with cubes of fudge before cutting it into slices! Serve on its own or with salted caramel sauce drizzled all over…

Recipe FAQs

Other Cheesecake Recipes 

Cheesecake is our absolute favourite dessert in the world! No surprise, we have a bunch of delicious cheesecake recipes for you to try, from San Sebastian Cheesecake from the Basque region to the American Classic Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake! If you like no-bake cheesecakes, try our Irresistible Biscoff Cheesecake and our amazing Toblerone Cheesecake. But if you are into baked cheesecakes, here is a selection of our very best:

• Baked Cherry Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate Crust
• Salted Honey Cheesecake with Ginger
• Refined Sugar-Free Burnt Basque Cheesecake

Recipe Card

Apple Crumble Cheesecake

Cannot decide if you want a creamy baked cheesecake or a warm apple crumble? Well, there's no need to decide! Have both of these delicious desserts by making a Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake! A ridiculously creamy cheesecake with a buttery digestive biscuit crust is topped with delicious apples and a crumble topping, then baked and decorated with sweet fudge!

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Cooling Time 7 hours hrs

Total Time 8 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, British

Servings 10 portions

Calories 460 kcal

Equipment

• 7in (18cm) springform cake tin
• Electric Handheld Mixer

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

For The Base:

• 200 g digestive biscuits
• 80 g unsalted butter melted

For Cheesecake Filling:

• 400 g cream cheese full fat, room temeparture
• 100 g caster sugar
• 145 g creme fraiche room temperature
• 2 medium eggs room temperature

For The Apples:

• 2 apples cored and peeled
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar

For The Crumble Topping:

• 50 g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 40 g light brown sugar
• 40 g unsalted butter
• 50 g fudge

Instructions

 

Make The Crust:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan. Grease an 18cm (7in) springform tin with butter and line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment. Wrap foil on the bottom and up the outside walls of the springform cake tin.
• Smash the digestive biscuits with the back of a rolling pin in a large mixing bowl (or blitz them in a food processor). Pour in the melted butter and mix until all the biscuit crumbs are coated. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and press firmly down to form an even base.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes.
• Take the tin out of the oven and leave to cool down, whilst you make the cheesecake filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C Fan.

Prepare the Apples:

• Toss the sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Make the Crumble:

• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture to form coarse breadcrumbs.

Make The Filling:

• Using an electric handheld mixer beat the room temperature cream cheese and caster sugar for about 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the creme fraiche and beat again.
• One by one add the eggs in and gently mix them in – just enough to incorporate them into the mixture.

Assemble, Cook and Cool:

• Place the springform tin in a baking tray with high rims (this will act as a water bath). Tip the cheesecake filling into the cake tin, on top of your biscuit base. Smooth out the top using a spatula.
• Carefully place the apple sliced over the top of the cheesecake, discarding any juices that may have been released from the apples.
• Scatter the crumble mixture over the top.
• Pour about 1.5-2cm of hot water in the baking tray around the cheesecake (the foil will protect the cheesecake from water seeping in). Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for 60 minutes at 150°C.
• Turn the oven off and without opening the door, leave the cheesecake in the closed oven for about 1 hour. Then open the oven door and leave it for another 30 minutes. Take it out and cool completely at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to chill for at least 5 hours! Decorate with cubes of fudge and cut into slices!

Notes

Store the cheesecake in the fridge, covered with an upside-down bowl for up to 4 days. 

Nutrition

Calories: 460kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 6gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 261mgPotassium: 159mgFiber: 2gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 913IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 1mg

Keyword 7in cheesecake, Apple Cheesecake, Apple Crisp Cheesecake, Apple Crumble Cheesecake, Caramel Apple Cheesecake

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