Apple Cheesecake Pie

The first time I heard about cheesecake, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I had ever heard of. Like seriously: a baked cake with cheese? Although I was fairly young when I was first introduced to cheesecake, it took me years to give it a try – having already made up my mind that it was not something I liked.

The first time I ever tasted it was when my sister’s friend baked one for her birthday – or some event. There was a side of raspberry coulis with it so, in a brave spirit, I decided to give it a shot. I believe I ate 3 pieces, no joke. How amazing was that thing.

The first time I baked a cheesecake was years later, when I started university. After lots of hits-and-misses, I’ve pretty much nailed-down my own recipe.

Today I will not share my traditional cheesecake recipe. This will come later. Instead, I will share what I call my Apple Cheesecake Pie.

The original cheesecake recipe comes from a piece of paper my sister found folded in an old book she had borrowed, or so I believe. The crust was an original cheesecake crust, the topping had cinnamon, and more sugar was involved in the recipe. Over the years, I came to adapt this one to finally make it my own.

As much as I love cheesecake, I believe this recipe satisfies the craving for a rich piece of cake, without the effort and precise work that surrounds baking an original cheesecake recipe. It also contains less cream cheese and even though it is fairly sweet, it is less rich in general.

So here it is, it is fairly easy and well worth trying. Feel free to change the fruit on top. I like pears, raspberries, strawberries … don’t be afraid to try something else.

You will need:
Pie crust
250g of cream cheese (one package), room temperature
½ cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Apples
Sugar
Sliced almonds

Prepare your pie crust and place it in the pie pan. See the recipe here.

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sugar. Add the egg, then the vanilla, and beat until you get a smooth texture.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Peel and slice the apples.

In a bowl, mix the apple slices with some sugar, just enough to sugar coat them.

Lay the apple on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Spread sliced almonds on top.

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, or until the crust starts turning golden-brown.

Let the pie cool for a couple of hours before serving.  Just like cheesecake, I prefer this dessert the day after I bake it, and served cold.

I hope you will like it.