Remembering Aunt Belle: Apple Cheesecake

This is an odd Thanksgiving. It'll be the first without Aunt Belle (technically my mom's aunt), who passed away last week at the age of 94. If you know me, you're probably already aware that she was a legend and had a larger-than-life presence in so many ways. Most relevant to this online venue, however, is her love for baking.

For as long as I can remember (and right up until just a few months ago), Aunt Belle was in charge of desserts for family gatherings: Thanksgiving, Passover seders, other holidays -- you name it. Sometimes she made the classics: macaroons, rugelach, cheesecake, sponge cake, etc.. Sometimes she ventured into new territory. She never made fewer than 3 or 4 options, however.

My job (ok, along with just about everybody else in the family; but she made me _feel_ like it was my job alone) was to taste each and every one, and let her know what I thought. This was slightly tricky. On the one hand, she very clearly wanted to be told that they were all delicious. She also told us this herself. On the other hand, though, I think she was genuinely interested in feedback on recipes she hadn't tried before.

A long discussion ensued at the "kids table" during Thanksgiving a few years ago about how to best let her know that we didn't really care for the "millionaire's pie" (yeah, i don't know either) she had made as an experiment. As I recall, we agreed (after much deliberation) to tell her that it was delicious, but maybe not as delicious as some other things she'd made that we'd rather have again.

In honor of Aunt Belle, I'm currently in the midst of making her apple cheesecake. It has all the makings of a typical Aunt Belle recipe. It's very simple to make (it can mostly be done in the food processor; she rarely made anything requiring a rolling pin, and once told me she had never used yeast). It uses great ingredients (little can go wrong when mixing fresh fruit, cream cheese and sugar). And it's really, really, really good.

For your holiday baking pleasure, I present the recipe for this cake. Be warned that it's not at all a traditional cheesecake -- it has a shortbread-like crust, and the cream cheese layer is very thin. It's also pretty easy to modify slightly -- I've made it with ginger instead of cinnamon; the crust would be great with a ground vanilla bean; etc.


Apple Cheesecake

Apple Topping:
4 cups sliced apples
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick butter, sliced
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


1. Pre-heat oven to 450.

2. Combine apples, sugar and cinnamon. Let sit in bowl.

3. Combine crust ingredients in food processor (or use pastry blender). Pulse to combine. Press into bottom of 10" springform pan.

4. Combine filling ingredients in food processor with metal blade. Let run for a few minutes to blend completely and beat the egg thoroughly.

5. Pour filling over crust, top with apples; bake for 10 min @ 450, then 25 min @ 400.