Come my friends, let the festivities' mood begin!
What do you think of a hassle-free stress-free no-bake caramel apple cheesecake?
Imagine buttery base, oh super creamy cheesecake filling, and the crown of it all.. caramel apple sauce on top and dripping all over.
I have to say, of all the cheesecakes that I've made, this is definitely one of my favorites!
Now, let's start.
Make It Your Own Base
Digestive biscuits have been the go-to biscuits that I like to use for the base of my cheesecakes. What the heck are digestive biscuits, you might ask? Well no worries, I've got a post about digestive biscuits for your to read if you want to know more.
But I know not all of us have access to digestive biscuits or don't like them for some personal reason and that's okay.
You can easily use your favorite ones for this recipe. Use graham crackers, speculoos biscuits, ginger biscuits.. whatever you want. Make it your own.
No-Bake Cheesecake Filling
Watch the video to see how creamy this cheesecake is and the amazing part about it is that we don't need to stress out about baking it.
Everybody knows baking a cheesecake is a very delicate thing, you need to pay attention when you're mixing ingredients and nailing that perfect temperature so that it doesn't crack.
And hey, having said that, did you see my easy (and I really mean EASY) mini cheesecakes? They are baked ones but so ridiculously easy that everybody's loving them! And I also wrote tips on how to make them right. Go and check it out!
Back to this no-bake cheesecake. I'm not using any gelatin or agar-agar. Another bonus, don't you think?
I'm also adding a touch of spices to the cheesecake with that luscious cookie butter. Believe me, just a little amount really boosts up the flavor. And who doesn't like spices with apple and caramel, right?
Tips On Making Apple Caramel
Ok, always remember to be careful when you're working with caramel. Alright? Caramel tends to splatter and will burn you, so again, be careful.
Here are some tips that I find very useful when I'm making this apple caramel:
- Use medium-low heat - you don't want your sugar to burn. Slow and steady heat will do it.
- Even surface - after adding sugar to your pan or pot, shake it so that the sugar's surface is even. That'll make the sugar melts evenly.
- Don't stir - this is debatable, I guess but this is how I do it. I don't stir the sugar until I see almost everything starts to caramelize and only then I will swirl my pan around to help the caramelized sugar to melt the rest.
- Cut butter into pieces - this helps in melting the butter faster.
- Don't cook apple too long - apple will release liquid and break down when heated so you don't want to cook the apple in the caramel sauce for long. 1 minute should do it.
- Remove apple from sauce - when I tested this recipe I noticed that when I left the apple in the caramel sauce until the sauce cool completely, the apple got too soft for my liking. So what I do now is remove the apple from a plate and let the sauce cool completely on itself.
There you go! Don't get anxious about all those points, alright? They are just tiny simple things to pay attention to help you so that you don't feel frustrated and cry (like I did) when things go wrong.
Tips On How To Assemble
Remember I mentioned to you that this no-bake cheesecake doesn't use any gelatin or agar-agar?
So having that in mind, this creamy cheesecake will not stand too long outside the fridge. Well, any no-bake cheesecake will actually.
When I tested this recipe, I did it with my usual steps with all of my no-bake cheesecakes with no gelatin or agar-agar. Meaning chilling it in the fridge for min 8 hours, then taking it out for a fast decoration and directly serving.
But since we will be decorating this one with the caramelized apple which took a bit of time to place everything nicely, I found out that it was getting too soft for my liking when I was cutting it to serve.
So after another test, this is how I do it so that I don't need to super rush and still have a nice neat slice when I cut it.
- Chill in the fridge - for a minimum of 8 hours for the cheesecake to set.
- Then in freezer - 1 hour before serving, I put my cheesecake in the freezer. Yes, freezer. This will help it holds its consistency when I take my time decorating it nicely later. Place it longer in the freezer if you think you will take longer assembling the apples on top.
Do it like this and you'll have a beautifully decorated cheesecake with a neat slice.
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In Summary
This no-bake caramel apple cheesecake is:
- perfect for this festive season!!
- doesn't use any gelatin or agar-agar
- just super creamy and so easy to make!
- will take your no-bake cheesecake game to another level, trust me š
- oh what can I say, it's just SO AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!
Hungry For More No-Bake Cheesecakes?
Yeah, check these out!
- Chocolate cheesecake
- Tiramisu cheesecake
- Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake
- Mango cheesecake
- Cookie butter cheesecake
Video
š Recipe
No-bake Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Ingredients
The Base
- 5 oz digestive biscuits (140 g)
- Ā¼ cup pecan (30 g)
- 3 tablespoon butter (45 g), melted
The Cheese Filling
- 16 oz full fat cream cheese (450 g), room temperature
- Ā½ cup icing sugar (60 g), sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon cookie butter (35 g)
- Ā¼ cup whipping cream, min 35% fat (60 ml), chilled
The Apple Caramel Sauce
- 2 gala apples , peeled, cored and sliced thinly
- Ā¾ cup sugar (150 g)
- 6 tablespoon butter (90 g), cut into pieces
- ā cup cream (80 ml)
- Ā¼ teaspoon salt
- Ā¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
Instructions
The Base
- Add biscuits and pecans in a food processor and blend them until you get a fine texture. Pour into a bowl and add in melted butter. Mix well.
- Pour mixture into a 7 inch (18 cm) springform pan. Press with the back of a spoon and spread evenly. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
The Cheese Filling
- Add cream cheese into another bowl and whisk until fluffy, using a handheld whisk. Now add in icing sugar, vanilla extract and cookie butter. Continue to whisk until everything is well combined. Set aside.
- Into another bowl, add in chilled whipping cream and whisk until soft peaks. Add whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and using a spatula, fold everything together gently.
- Now pour the mixture into the pan and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Chill in the fridge for minimum 8 hours.
The Apple Caramel
- Add sugar in a nonstick pan/pot and heat it, untouched, on medium low heat until the sugar starts to melt and caramelise. Now carefully add in butter (be careful of the splatters) and continue cooking until the butter melts and the mixture becomes bubbly. Use a whisk to gently mix everything.
- Then add in cream and salt. Continue mixing until it becomes bubbly again. Finally add in sliced apples, mix everything together with a spatula and continue cooking for another 1 minute.
- Carefully remove apple slices from the sauce, into a plate. Pour caramel into a jar and cool completely before using. The sauce will thicken more as it cools.
- Note: Refer to my detailed TIPS above on how to get it right.
Assembling
- 1 hour before serving, place the cheesecake in the freezer. Place it in longer if you feel you're going to take more time to assemble the cheesecake.
- Note: Refer to my detailed TIPS above on how to assemble this cheesecake with no fuss.
How To Remove Cheesecake From The Pan
- Run a knife all around the cheesecake to help loosen it up. Release the spring and remove the ring. Run a knife all around under the cheesecake base to loosen it. Insert 2 big flat spatula underneath, on opposite direction. Swiftly yet confidently lift up the cheesecake using the spatulas and place it on a serving plate.
- Now let's assemble this beauty. Arrange the sliced apples nicely on top. Pour caramel sauce on top. Slice, serve and enjoy! You might have balance of the sauce. Serve together with sliced cheesecakes on the side.
How To Serve
- I would highly recommend you to assemble this cheesecake and then immediately serve it. Don't leave it out at room temperature for long. If you have balance, place it back in the fridge. This is a no-bake cheesecake without gelatin/agar-agar so for better result, please read and follow my tips.
Adri says
I have just made this cheesecake. Amazing!!!! I didn't have the cookie butter, nor the speculaas cookies in order to make my own, so I have used one spoon of peanut butter and one of Nutella! I know, weird combination, but since they have the same consistency and I wanted a nuts taste, it came out incredibly tasty! I have also changed the apple cooking, had them in apple juice with sugar and vanilla plus a bit of butter separately from the caramel sause cooked.
My inlaws and my man, made lots of compliments. I have to say, I didn't expect it to come out so great! Thank you! I have saved the recipe for later!
Bea says
Hi Adri! Your twist sounds super delicious, I might try it myself :D! I'm excited to hear that everybody loved it. I do have more cheesecake recipes here, if you're interested. Thank you for your feedback!
Fanny says
Hi Bea,
Just discovered yr blog and I really enjoyed reading and waching it but still have to try yr recipes,
About the No-bake Caramel Apple Cheesecake:
Can you explain what exactly cookie butter is. ?..? I don't know whether it can be bought here in the Netherlands? Is there another product that you can replace with?
Thx and keep on going! š.
Bea says
Hi Fanny! Cookie butter is is an edible paste that is made from speculoos cookies (if I'm not mistaken the cookies are originally from Belgium and Netherlands) and some other ingredients. If you can't find it then you can either omit it or use peanut butter instead. I'm happy to know that you're enjoying our website, thank you Fanny! šā¤ļø
Sylvia Becker says
Scarily easy, incredibly good. I came mainly for the caramel sauce! Have always wanted to try making caramel but was intimidated by the burning of sugar š
Here I used brown sugar which doesnāt bubble until the cream is added, so definitely use low heat and add lots of patience stirring carefully.
BUT SO GOOD š
Bea says
Oh yes tell me about it. All my life I've been scared of making caramel until I did it anyways and made every error possible relating to it. Haha! Brown sugar is a great alternative, for sure. Glad that you gave the recipe a try, thank you Slyvia! š
Bertha says
THANK YOU!!!!
I made this cheesecake and everybody was commenting how delicious it was. I didn't bother to arrange the apple like you did but it didn't matter because it was that good! I will be trying more of your recipes!
Bertha
Bea says
Hi Bertha, I'm so happy you liked it š Let me know what other recipes you try. Thanks for the love!
Linda says
Came from your youtube video. It looks amazing! Will be trying to make it for Christmas this year.
Just a small note that the cinnamon wasn't mentioned when to be added in your instructions. Luckily, it was clear in the video to add it in after the apples for the sauce.
Thank you again for sharing, keep up the great work!