toffee apple cheesecake

I have fond childhood memories of toffee apples – biting through the crisp candy coating to find the juicy apple inside. This cheesecake captures all of those flavours.

• 4 small dessert apples, peeled and cored
• 100 g/scant ½ cup dark brown sugar
• freshly squeezed juice of ½ a lemon
• 85 g/½ cup sultanas/golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons double/heavy cream
• 400 ml/1⅓ cups sour cream
• 250 g/1 cup cream cheese
• 500 g/2 cups mascarpone
• 50 g/¼ cup caster/ granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons gluten-free self-raising flour OR 3 tablespoons gluten-free all-purpose baking flour plus ¼ teaspoon baking powder

For the topping

• 4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
• 115 g/½ cup dark soft brown sugar
• 60 g/½ stick butter
• 1 tablespoon golden/light corn syrup
• 150 ml/⅔ cup double/heavy cream

a 23-cm/9-in springform tin/pan, greased and lined

Serves 8–10

To make the cheesecake, chop the dessert apples into 1-cm/½-in pieces and put them in a large saucepan. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice, sultanas/golden raisins and 2 tablespoons cold water. Heat until the liquid is syrupy and the apple soft. Stir in the double/heavy cream and simmer for a further 2–3 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F) Gas 4. Put the sour cream, cream cheese, mascarpone, caster/granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and flour in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Fold in the cooled apple mixture.

Wrap the edges and base of the baking tin/pan with clingfilm/plastic wrap to make it watertight. Put it in a roasting tin/pan half-filled with boiling water. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the baking tin/pan and bake in the water bath in the preheated oven for 30–40 minutes, until the top of the cheesecake is golden brown and wobbles very slightly when shaken. Remove from the water bath and leave in the pan to cool completely.

To prepare the apple topping, put the apple slices in a saucepan with the lemon juice and 100 ml/⅓ cup of water and simmer until soft. Drain any excess water and let cool. Put the sugar, butter and syrup in a small saucepan and heat gently, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cream and simmer for a few minutes further, until you have a thick toffee sauce. Serve slices of the cheesecake topped with the apple slices and a generous drizzle of the toffee sauce.

This cheesecake will keep for up to 3 days if refrigerated in an airtight container.