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Candy apple cheesecake: A seasonal treat sure to please everyone

By ERIC STANWAY - Special to The Sunday Telegraph | Nov 28, 2020

One of the seasonal treats of the fall are candied apples, with a popsicle stick jammed into them, and covered in jaw-breaking neon jacket. Then there are caramel apples, which are a little kinder to your dentistry. Some times, people get them mixed up. However, they are completely different items, with over four decades between them.

The candy apple actually came to be as the result of a misunderstanding. Back in 1908, a candy maker in New Jersey by the name of William W. Kolb was trying to figure out a way to get people excited about his Christmas cinnamon candies. In a fit of advertising exuberance, he decided to melt the candies down, and then dip apples into them. He then took the results and displayed them in the window of his store.

Well, things didn’t go entirely as he expected. Passersby saw the apples, and completely forgot about cinnamon candies. They demanded the apples themselves, and wouldn’t be put off. Kolb gave in, and was soon selling them for a nickel apiece, and they were flying off the shelves.

To say that the candy apple was a success would be an understatement. They were soon a staple all along the Jersey Shore, showing up on boardwalks and at fairs.

The caramel apple, however, is an entirely different matter. This gooey comestible was the brainchild of one Dan Walker, an employee of Kraft foods, in the 1950s. It seems he was saddled with a considerable surplus of leftover Halloween candy. Basically, he decided to melt it all down, and dip apples into it, creating another tremendous commercial success. For a few years, all of the apples were hand-dipped, before Vico Raimondi, of Chicago, Illinois, invented and patented the first automated caramel apple machine in 1960. The treats became a home-made favorite ten years later, when Kraft introduced the Wrapple, a sheet of caramel that could be simply wrapped around the fruit.

Both of these candies enjoyed tremendous success right up until the 1970s, being a favorite to hand out on Halloween. That was before nasty rumors started to go about, concerning degenerates who were inserting needles or even razor blades to the offerings they were handing out to Trick Or Treaters.

With Thanksgiving upon us, I don’t expect people to start mucking about with candy apples. However, here is a similar dessert that won’t go amiss on your table.

CANDY APPLE CHEESECAKE

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs, divided

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples

Caramel Apple Topping Caramel Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Sprinkle pecans over bottom of a greased and floured shiny 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until blended and smooth. Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Whisk together brown sugar, melted butter, and remaining egg in a large bowl until blended.

Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to brown sugar mixture, and stir until blended. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Carefully spoon cream cheese mixture over batter.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, and gently run a knife around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. (Do not remove sides of pan.) Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 2 hours). Transfer to a serving plate.

Meanwhile, prepare Caramel Apple Topping and Caramel Sauce. Reserve 1 cup Caramel Sauce for another use. Spoon topping over cheesecake; drizzle with 1/2 cup Caramel Sauce.

CARAMEL APPLE TOPPING

¼ cup butter

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

5 large Granny Smith apples (about 2 1/2 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add sugar and lemon juice, and cook, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon, 5 to 6 minutes or until mixture turns a light golden brown. Add apple wedges. Cook, stirring often, 15 to 18 more minutes or until apples are tender and caramelized. Remove from heat; cool 20 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

(Recipe adapted from Southern Living.)

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