To celebrate the release of JUST DESSERTS, I have a sweet gift for you, courtesy of my good friends Marie and Kali Browne. (You know Kali as the Food Goddess on my
. Marie is her brilliantly talented mother. JUST DESSERTS is dedicated to them.)
I'll let Kali tell you about it:
A few years ago, the women at work decided to hold our own holiday potluck. Some cooked a bounty of scrumptious dishes, others bought beverages, desserts, chips and other incidentals… Mom volunteered an apple pie cheesecake.
I remember setting up our feast in a small room, opening the springform pan and placing the cheesecake as the centerpiece of a small credenza, surrounded by store-bought cookies that quickly lost ground in the list of everybody's favorite treat.
I made myself a plate of food and took it back to my desk. As I was walking away, one of the women said, "I think I'm starting with dessert because I don't know if that cheesecake is going to make it!" I smiled proudly and said, "My Mom made that."
I put my plate down and the phone rang. I grabbed it, automatically, without thinking. It only took a few minutes (more than one, less than three). By the time I returned to the little back room, the poor cheesecake had been cannibalized, brown sugared crumbs laying asunder on the little tray and all around the tiny table, like a trail of gore. I managed to save a tiny piece for Mom and I brought it home that night after work. It had been a complete success.
We suspect that Barbara's latest book will be just like the Apple Pie Cheesecake: a moan-inducing pleaser, a complete success, that leaves all other books cast asunder in the wake of its wicked deliciousness!
APPLE PIE CHEESECAKE
Crust
2 cups crushed gingersnaps
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling
3 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
¼ cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 medium firm tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Topping
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- Heat oven to 350°. Spray a 10-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl stir together all crust ingredients. Press into bottom and ½ inch up the sides of the pan. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until set.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Beat in eggs, egg yolk, cream, 2 tablespoons of flour and vanilla extract for an additional minute or until blended.
- In medium bowl, toss apples with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and cinnamon until lightly coated.
- Pour half the filling into crust, arrange apples over it, overlapping slightly. Pour remaining filling over apples. Bake 40 minutes.
- In a small bowl, stir together all topping ingredients; sprinkle over cake. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight. Keep refrigerated.
Happy baking! Happy reading!
Barbara Bretton "Barbara" sent the following posts to customers who purchased Love Changes (Harlequin American Romance #3)
I know this is Memorial Day weekend but, trust me, Halloween is right around the corner. (After all the stores put up Halloween decorations in August, don't they?)