FoodMayhem

After watching the cheesecake episode Bobby Flay’s “Throwdown” (not that I like Flay, I don’t), I decided to make another of my many cheesecakes. Unlike Flay’s cake with apple slices on top, I wanted a recipe that had apples in the cake, because most of the cheesecake I’ve made are smooth inside. Even my cookie dough cheesecake (I’ll have to post that here eventually) is pretty smooth inside.

After reviewing many recipes online, I decided that Brett Moore’s recipe on About.com sounded the most interesting. However, it definitely needed some work… I’ll tell you about some of my changes here.

1. Moore’s recipe doesn’t specify what type of apple, Jessica chose Granny Smith for their great ability to stand up to cooking and their tartness and flavor.
2. The recipe lists 1/2-inch cored slices, that implies full round, we went with halves as it makes far more sense for a cheesecake filling.
3. Moore suggests Calvados or regular brandy, we went with regular brandy.
4. The recipe calls for shortbread cookies in the crust. I used Keebler Cinnamon-flavored graham crackers to match flavor. They worked out wonderfully!
5. The recipe forgets (I feel) to instruct toasting the pecans. That’s important to bring out the flavor.
6. We were out of light corn syrup and so I went with dark. Flavor-wise, I think this is a better choice, but I had a hard time telling how far along the caramel was since the recipe only says until “golden amber color” — I unfortunately timed it slightly too short. I probably cooked the caramel about 10 minutes, but it should’ve gone about 15 to get to full darkness– honestly, I forgot how much lighter it would get after adding the heavy cream.
7. The recipe recommends using a 10-inch springform pan, I used a regular cake round. I knew that with the eggs and apple this cake would have no problem flipping out of the pan.
8. Moore instructs to cook for 75 minutes and then cool for 30 minutes before chilling. That sounded very long, I cooked for 60 minutes, but it actually was done at 50 (I should have stopped it but gave the benefit of the doubt, oops). Then I let rest in the oven for 45 minutes with the oven off and door partially open (this is the right technique). Then I let cool for 30 minutes before chilling over night.

Overall, this recipe got two thumbs up from everyone who tasted it, all eight of us agreed.

If you’d like to see more picture of the cooking process, have a look at our Flickr set.