Fall Recipes: Apple Cheesecake

by Cristina White

INGREDIENTS

• CRUST:
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
• APPLE TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 6 Granny Smith or baking apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• FILLING:
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Combine crust ingredients; press into bottom and 1-1/2-in. up sides of a 9-in. springform pan. Refrigerate. For topping, place sugar, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in Dutch oven; mix well. Add apples. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer 15 minutes or just until apples are tender. Gently stir as needed. Remove from heat; carefully stir in pecans. Cool to room temperature. Set aside 3 tablespoons of topping; refrigerate the rest until serving time. For filling, combine cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl; mix until well blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Turn oven off, but leave cheesecake in oven with door ajar for another 1 hour. Cool to room temperature; chill at least 4 hours. Before serving, top with Apple Topping.

Fall Recipes

Pumpkin Madeleines

2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
dash of salt


In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar at high speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat the flour into the egg mixture at low speed. Gradually beat in the butter. Increase the speed to medium and beat in the pumpkin, lemon juice, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until well blended. Cover and let the mixture stand at room temperature for 1 hour.


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Spoon the batter into the prepared madeleine molds, using about 1-1/2 tablespoons for each cookie. Do not spread the batter in the molds. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the madeleines from the molds at once and cool on a rack. They are best eaten within a few hours of baking. Or, store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 8 weeks.