The Chill in the Air...

...means fall is here! Time to make all things apple and/or pumpkin. For the first time in the four years we have lived here in Asheville we made a trip to a local orchard. Our chosen destination: Sky Top Orchard in neighboring Henderson County. Being one of the first nice Saturdays in fall, it was packed. We were extremely lucky in finding a parking spot right at the store. 

First stop, apple cider donuts. We'd heard these were really tasty, and they did not disappoint!

After stopping at the play area, we were finally off to pick some apples! Our choice for the day were Mutsus. They're pretty large, spotty, super juicy, crisp, and sweet with a slight tartness to them. I already had a plan in motion for these babies. We'd gotten some Granny Smiths from our Farmers' Market, and my recipe called for a mix of tart and sweet. What did I make? Only one of the best apple pies ever, complete with homemade crust!

I've been hanging on to this recipe for about two years. I tore it from Women's Day magazine. It has both the pie crust recipe and the filling recipe. The crust recipe can be found here. I'll type out the filling recipe, so I can note any modifications I made. I only used half of the apples, because a) the crust was really thin for that amount and b) it would have made it a pie mountain. If you like apple pie mountains, go for it!

Rustic Apple Pie

1 Basic Flaky Pie Crust

2 lb sweet baking apples (I used Mutsu; they recommend Jonagold, Ida Red or Golden Delicious)

1 lb tart baking apples (They recommended, and I used, Granny Smith)

1 Tbsp AP flour

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp sugar, divided

1 large egg, slightly beaten

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Working on a piece of parchment paper, roll the pie crust into a 15-inch circle (mine was really thin). Slide paper, with crust, onto a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, toss the apples, flour, cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp of the sugar together. Pile the apples on top of the crust, leaving a 3-inch border. Fold the border over the apples.

Brush the crust with the egg. Sprinkle the entire pie with the remaining Tbsp of sugar and bake until the crust is golden brown, and the apples are tender, 55-65 minutes.  Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving. 

I think we waited maybe 15 minutes. I've made this twice, so have used up all the apples the recipe calls for, and we amped it up by having our slices with vanilla ice cream. 

Fall also means continuing our family birthday lineup. Next up was Richard's birthday week. My gift to family for birthdays is the cake/dessert of their choice. I don't think I've made anyone the same thing more than once. I pored through my recipes and found 6 items I knew Richard would absolutely love. About half were chocolate with caramel, half with chocolate and peanut butter. Those are his favorite flavor combos. His choice? Chocolate-Caramel Cheesecake. It was such a hit that Kiersten has requested it for her 7th birthday. In 11 months. I have to admit, it was probably the best dessert I've ever made, and I've made so many that I'm sure there are some I've forgotten.

What a beautiful piece of yummy goodness.

The hardest part about this was converting everything from grams to ounces and Celsius to Fahrenheit, as the author of the recipe is Swedish. Thankfully I have a kitchen scale, so I could be pretty accurate. If you don't have one, I've included other measurements for you.

Crust:

300g Oreos (10.5 oz, which amounted to about a row and a half), crushed

100 g butter (3.5 oz, 7 Tbsp.), melted

Filling:

3 pkgs cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 dl sugar (3.4 oz, a very scant 1/2 c)

4-5 Tbsp lemon juice (I left this out, as I don't like lemony desserts, especially in chocolate!)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

100 g dark chocolate (4 oz, which is 2 squares of baking chocolate)

Caramel topping:

8 oz heavy cream

2/4 c sugar

2 Tbsp butter

Chocolate Ganache:

2 squares chopped dark chocolate

3 oz heavy cream

Choose and grease your springform pan: The author used a 7", mine was 9". The smaller one will produce a taller cake.

For crust, combine crushed Oreos with butter and press onto the bottom and up the sides of your springform pan. Cover the bottom & the sides halfway up with foil. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

Heat oven to 325 (160 C). Boil water in saucepan for the water bath.

For the filling, in a bowl, beat cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until fully mixed.

Melt chocolate, then let cool. Add to 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture (about 2 c).  Spoon the chocolate batter into crust, then pour in the remaining batter. 

Place pan in a large pan (I used my metal roasting pan), and surround halfway with the boiling water.  

Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool, then place in fridge for 6-8 hours. 

Caramel:

Carefully heat sugar in saucepan without stirring. Once it turns amber, swirl the sugar in the pan until melted. Remove from heat.

Add butter to sugar, stirring constantly. (this could be dangerous, as it has the potential to splatter)

Once incorporated, put back onto heat, adding cream gradually.

Let boil a few minutes until smooth, then remove from heat. Let cool, then pour in a container until needed. If you will not need it until the next day, refrigerate it, and let it come to room temp when you use it. Once the cheesecake has been in the fridge for the allotted time, pour the caramel over the cheesecake, spreading it with a spatula until it goes over the edges of the cake. Put the cake back in the fridge while you make the ganache, so the caramel may set.

Ganache:

Chop the chocolate & place in a bowl. Heat cream in a saucepan until it is very hot, but not boiling. Pour over the chocolate & let sit for about 30 seconds. Then carefully stir until the chocolate is shiny and smooth. Let cool, then pour over the cake using the same method as the caramel. Refrigerate the cake until the ganache has set. Then serve. I cut ours into 16 slices, and that was rich enough! The kids each ate half of THOSE slices, except when Nolan forfeited his last slice. Kiersten had the same amount as we did!

Next in line is mom. She's requested individual chocolate & peanut butter cheesecakes. Should prove to be fun and interesting!