My favorite thing to do this time of year is to go apple picking with my girlfriends. However, our version of apple picking involves eating every single apple dessert on the menu of a small road-side stand and buying bags of already-picked apples. This is to ensure that we have plenty of time to stop at the wineries near the orchards for wine tasting. So I say that I love apple picking, but truthfully, I’ve never picked an apple (at least not that I can remember after wine tasting). On our last trip, we had a pie very similar to this one. This pie is part cheesecake and part apple crumb pie. Enjoy!
Apple Cheesecake Crumb Pie |
- FOR THE CRUST:
- 5 ounces (1 cup) flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, diced
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3-4 tablespoons cold water
- FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons butter
- FOR THE FILLING:
- 1 small apple (I prefer Honey Crisp)
- pinch of orange zest (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon flour
- pinch of salt
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Caramel sauce for serving (optional)
- First, make the crust: stir together in a small bowl with a fork the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and use your finger tips or a pastry cutter to blend it into the flour.
- Once all the butter pieces are about the size of small peas, add the vinegar and a small amount of water, stirring between each addition. Add enough water so that the dough comes together in a ball, but isn’t overly sticky.
- Form the dough into a disk, cover it in plastic wrap, and let it chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the crumb topping: combine all ingredients except butter in a small bowl. Add the butter and rub it in until well incorporated. Set aside.
- Now, peel and dice your apple into ¼” chunks. You should end up with about 1 cup of diced apple pieces.
- Add the apple to a medium bowl and toss with the cinnamon, flour, salt and orange zest (if using). Set aside. I
- n another bowl, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, egg, sugar and cornstarch. Set aside while you prepare your pie crust.
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Roll the pie dough disk on a lightly floured surface into a circle about 8-9” in diameter. Carefully transfer this to a 7” pie tin and fit it in the bottom gently (do not ever stretch pie dough—it will shrink back in the oven). Fold the overhanging dough under the edges to form a double crust and make a pretty edge, either with a fork or your fingers. Do not prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Transfer the pie tin to a small baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. If the crust has puffed up, gently push it back down before pouring the cream cheese mixture on top. Add the diced apples on top, followed by the crumb topping. Bake for 30-40 minutes. If the crumbs aren’t brown enough, broil for a few minutes. This pie is great at room temperature, or even chilled. Serve with caramel sauce.
Eden says
So um yea.......totally gonna appear on my thanksgiving day table!
So nice seeing you at the festival! wish we had longer to chat! you always have a friend in LA!
Lauri (RedHeadRecipes.com) says
Heyyyy!! Your desserts are NO joke! They Look SO Yummy and I love that they are 'printer friendly'!! It was so great to meet you at the festival! Hope to chat again soon!
Damaris @Kitchen Corners says
this looks awesome. i had a crumb cake in the city this weekend. Don't tell anyone. People will think I'm ridiculous for buying food when there was SO much food at the festival. Anyway, this looks yummy and you should totally submit this to my apple cook off!
sweetlife says
apple cheesecake with a crumb topping, delish. I love you version of apple picking..too fun!!
sweetlife
Marci says
Hi Christina,
Your blog is so great and your pictures are beautiful! I think I'd want to be your neighbor. Fun to meet you last weekend. Now we are blog friends.
Peggy says
I think a lot of us do "apple-picking" that way! This cheesecake looks fantastic!
megan @ whatmegansmaking says
part cheesecake, part apple crumb pie??? Oh my it sounds incredible!
Sarah - RecipeLion says
This looks so amazing! I absolutely love this blog. As a person with a sweets addiction myself, this blog is heaven. I hope you don't mind us linking to some of your recipes in the future.
-Sarah
Editor
RecipeLion.com
Andrea says
This looks SO good. I've been searching everywhere for a 6 or even 8 inch pie pan, and have not been able to find it!! Ok, not everywhere... haven't actually gone to any specialty store or anything, but they definitely don't sell them at any of the 6 stores in my general vicinity that have a kitchen section. Lame. Where did you get yours?
Lindsay says
Just made this last night - absolutely fantastic! I used my 6" springform pan that I've used for other recipes on this blog and as always, the results were perfect and a great use for the local apples I have! Thanks as always for recipes that are consistently great for just two of us!
-Lindsay
P.S. We actually ended up cutting this into eight slices and we still have a few leftover! It's still cheesecake after all:-)
Christina says
So glad to hear it, Lindsay! Thanks so much for taking the time to write in with a success story :) Happy baking!