Apple Cheese Tart

January 23 was declared National Pie Day by the American Pie Council, and Jo Jo of the blog Jo Jo's Joys is celebrating on her blog today with a pie party! 

I love to make tarts, which are a form of a pie that has a shortbread pastry crust with an open top. I've shown Blueberry, Strawberry and Lemon tarts on my blog before, and I've even made savory tarts such as Smoked Salmon, Fig and Onion and a Tomato Tart.  (click on the links for all the recipes)

For today's pie party I made another family favorite, an Apple Cheese Tart. I discovered this recipe years ago when every fall my husband and my children would go to an apple orchard in upstate New York to pick apples and have a picnic. We'd return home with over a bushel of apples that I used in many apple and apple crumb pies, to the point where we'd begin to tire of them, so I began to make different apple cakes and tarts just for variety. This Apple Cheese Tart has a delicious buttery crust with a hint of cheesecake taste.  The fragrant cinnamon apples and nuts topping tastes delicious served warm or cold.

Apple Cheese Tart

Ingredients:

For the shortbread crust:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sifted flour

For the cheese layer:

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese softened to room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or lemon or almond extract

Topping:

4 cups thinly sliced apples

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Crust:  Beat butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Slowly stir in flour till mix forms a soft dough. Press dough on bottom and sides of a 9 inch ungreased tart pan.  A 9 inch ungreased springform pan can also be used, press dough on bottom and 1 and 1/2 inch height on sides. 

Cheese Layer: Beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar with a mixer until blended, add flavoring extract of choice and egg, beating until just smooth. Pour into pan, spreading the cheese mixture to cover the bottom.

Topping: Combine thinly sliced apples, cinnamon and nutmeg with 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl and mix gently until all the apples are coated. Layer over the cream cheese and sprinkle nuts on top.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes then lower oven to 400 degrees and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown (apples are soft when pierced with a fork), and filling is almost set.  Cool in pan on a wire rack and remove tart pan sides or springform pan ring.

Serve room temperature or chilled.  Leftovers can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated.

It's so good!

Visit Jo Jo's Joys for her Pie Party today and see what's being served on all the participating blogs!