I don’t know about you, but I have some “Christmas standards” that are on permanent request in our household. We do the turkey thing at Thanksgiving, but for Christmas, it’s a rather decadent and gorgeous meal of Châteaubriand – Noah’s neck-and-neck favourite alongside Beef Bourgignon. Assuming our little seedling doesn’t make his grand entrance early, I will post the recipe after Christmas as it also makes a gorgeous New Year’s Eve dinner.
Given that Châteaubriand is so rich and flavourful, I’m always looking for a dessert that is fabulous but not too heavy to finish the meal, so this week I got creative in the kitchen and came up with a very simple but delicious Apple Cheesecake Tart. It’s surprisingly light and the delicate, mandolin-sliced paper-thin apples on both the top and the bottom give it an almost mille-feuille-like quality with no pastry involved. It’s also rather pretty in its humble simplicity, very easy to make and very easy to eat. 


APPLE CHEESECAKE TART
INGREDIENTS:
Butter to grease tart pan
3-4 organic apples {I used Honeycrisp for a bit of tartness, but Ambrosia would also be lovely}
2 packages organic cream cheese
1 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon to sprinkle on top
METHOD:
Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a square tart pan with butter. In a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, coconut sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Wash, quarter and core the apples. Using a mandolin, create paper-thin slices of apples and create a layer to cover the bottom of the greased tart pan. Pour in the cheesecake mixture and arrange a second layer of sliced apples on top. Place a rimmed cookie sheet with water on the bottom rack of your oven to catch any unsuspecting drips. The water will help prevent the cheesecake from cracking. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the tart to cool and then cut into squares and serve. Serves 9-16 depending on how big you cut the pieces. This one disappears quickly, so make two if you’ve got a big crowd!
Wishing you a fabulous and meaningful weekend with the ones you love. Only six more sleeps until Christmas!
xo
s.