Salted Caramel Apple Upside Down Cheesecake (No Bake)
A salted caramel apple upside down cheesecake made with a Biscoff cookie crust, a cinnamon no bake cheesecake filling, and a center stuffed with cinnamon apple filling and homemade salted caramel. Built in a greased springform pan lined with a parchment circle, chilled until fully set, then inverted onto a platter. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and extra salted caramel. Impressive enough for a holiday centerpiece, with beginner friendly steps and no oven required.
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2 sleeves biscoff cookies, crushed (about 4 cups) substitution: graham crackers
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- pinch of sea salt
For the Apple Filling:
- 2 honey crisp apples, finely chopped
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- pinch of sea salt
Corn Starch Slurry:
- 1 tbs cornstarch
- 2 tbs water
For the Salted Caramel: (you can also use store bought if you want to skip this step)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 6 tbs salted butter, room temperature (unsalted works too) cut into cubes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp sea salt
For the Cheesecake Filling:
- 1½ cup heavy cream, cold
- 3 blocks cream cheese, room temperature 24oz
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
- 1 tsp vanilla or vanilla bean paste
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
For the Apple Filling:
- Finely chop apples and combine in a bowl with brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Toss until all the apples are coated.
- In a medium skillet over medium high heat, sauté apples until soft and reduced slightly.
- In a small bowl, combine the corn starch and water to make your corn starch slurry and add to apples. Cook for 2 min more. The mixture should thicken slightly.
- Spread the apple mixture onto a plate or something flat where it can spread into one layer. Top with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until it is completely cooled. (spreading it out thin will help it cool quicker)
For the Salted Caramel:
- Combine sugars in a sauce pan over medium heat and stir constantly to prevent burning.
- Sugars will clump up before they melt, just continue to move them around the pan until they are completely melted.
- Add the clumps of butter, whisking constantly to combine. Mixture may bubble ferociously and this is okay! (if your sugar clumps up and separates from the butter, just add a splash of water and take it off the heat and whisk vigorously until it comes back together.)
- Remove from heat and add heavy cream. Mixture may bubble here too, just keep on whisking!
- Once the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, stir in the salt.
- Pour onto a plate or something flat and cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool completely while you make the rest of the components .
For the Crust:
- Grease a 9" spring form pan and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle. Set aside.
- In a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin, crush biscoff cookies until they are fine crumbs.
- Add melted butter and salt and pulse until it resembles wet sand.
- Pour the crumbs into the spring form pan and use a flat bottomed cup to press the crumbs into the pan and all the way up the sides. Take your time with this, you want it to be very compact and even around all the sides and bottom.
- Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up while you make the cheesecake filling.
For the Cheesecake Filling:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip heavy cream on medium high for about 5 minutes until it reaches stiff peaks. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat cream blocks until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and beat for 1 minute until combined.
- Add greek yogurt, salt, cinnamon and vanilla and beat 1 min more until combined and very smooth.
- Fold the whip cream into the cream cheese mixture using a spatula, being careful as you fold to not deflate the whip cream. Be gentle!
Assemble and Freeze:
- Remove the crust from the freezer and place ⅔ of the cream cheese mixture into the bottom of the crust. Smooth the mixture and create a well in the center for the apples.
- Add cooled cinnamon apples to the well and top with about 3 tbs of the salted caramel. (I just eye ball this, you'll have extra for serving, just make sure everything is completely cooled before adding it to the cream cheese)
- Top apples with the remaining cream cheese mixture and smooth covering the entire top.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible.
Serving:
- Remove the plastic wrap and place a circle plate or platter larger than the spring form pan on top of the cheesecake.
- With one hand on top of the platter and the other on the bottom of the pan, invert the entire thing (say a prayer) and remove the spring form pan.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream, or whip cream and more salted caramel or crack through the middle and just dive in. ENJOY!