Autumn apple cheesecake bars
Makes one 13-by-9-inch pan
For the crust and streusel:
21⁄4 cups all purpose flour
3⁄4 cup sugar
11⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
9 ounces (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) chilled butter, cut in half-inch cubes
For the apple topping: 5 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1⁄4-inch thick slices (see note)
2 tablespoons butter
1 ⁄4 cup apple brandy or regular brandy
1⁄3 cup sugar
11⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla For the cheesecake filling: 24 ounces (three packages) cream cheese
3⁄4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
For the crust: Place flour, sugar and vanilla in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add butter and use on-off pulses to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture is ready when it is crumbly and dry, like a coarse meal. Do not work it to the point where it starts to come together.
Set aside about one-third of the mixture to be used for the streusel topping. Press the remaining two-thirds into the bottom, and slightly up the sides, of the prepared pan.
Bake the crust until it is just barely golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside until you are ready to add filling.
For the apples: Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the butter and then the apples. Stir the apples frequently so they cook evenly. As they cook, they will give off some juices, and begin to soften. Once the liquids have evaporated, turn up the heat to high and add the brandy. As soon as the brandy has cooked off, reduce the heat to medium, add the cinnamon, sugar and vanilla and keep tossing the apples until the sugar has melted, and the apple mixture has taken on a caramel stickiness.
Do not let the apple begin to disintegrate. They are done when they are softened and a bit limp, but not fully cooked. They need to keep their shape. Let apples cool while preparing the filling.
For the cheesecake filling: Clean the food processor and blade before reusing. Place all the ingredients for the filling in the food processor and blend for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and blend another 30 seconds. Let sit for a minute, then blend one last time for 30 seconds.
Pour the cheesecake filling into the crust, and smooth the top. Place the apples in neat overlapping rows on top of the filling, making sure to cover the entire top of the cheesecake.
For the streusel: Turn the reserved crust components into a streusel topping: use your fingers to toss the mixture together, encouraging the formation of tiny lumps the size of dried peas or smaller. Work quickly so that the butter does melt into the dough from the heat of your hands. Sprinkle this streusel evenly over the top of the bars.
Place pan in the oven and bake bars at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees and bake another 30 minute, or until the filling is just set.
Cool bars on a rack, then refrigerate until fully chilled. Remove the bars from the pan before cutting into serving pieces using a sharp knife. They are best eaten somewhere between room temperature and refrigerator-cold. Feeling fanciful and festive? Drizzle caramel sauce over the bars just before serving. Add a sprinkling of chopped, toasted pecans.
Note: Choose an apple that will hold its shape when sautéed. Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp or Granny Smiths are a common choice as well, but they are more tart. Prepare the apples for cooking just before you are ready to use them, so they don’t turn brown in the meantime.