Kissed Caramel Vodka Cheesecake

Caramel Vodka Cheesecake with Sautéed Apples

I was lucky enough to go to this years Pie Party in NYC hosted by Jackie & Ken in the drool-worthy Ge Monogram Design Center in NYC

About 70 food bloggers gathered to share a pie or two that they had lovingly transported from their home to the event. I happened to travel to the party with a new friend Cat of The Cooking Cottage. I think we were the only two that night from Pennsylvania...but hey there was pie and lots of it! A gals gotta do what a gals gotta do when pie is involved!

I protected my 2 pies like they were my kids on my journey into Philly then onto NYC, lucky for me, Susie, one of my besties lent me her Longaberger Pie Basket which carried both pies with ease. And yes, I was in fact called little red riding hood while walking the city streets, something that cracked me up!

Here is a shot of my Caramel & Chocolate Tart with a Shortbread Crust

Here is a shot of my Nantucket Pie in progress (click here for the recipe)

That night I got to see and taste some amazingly beautiful sweet & savory pies! I think I tasted about 12 pies. Next year, I may wear cammo, grease my face up and go all commando to try and get a taste of every single pie, but then that would be a bit crazy I guess.

It was a fun and tasty night for sure. I got to see some familiar faces, meet some new foodies, have a few cocktails made by Smirnoff Vodka which were SO good, found out about DUB Pies in NYC (and now both my husband and I are obsessed with the Thai Chicken Curry Pie), got to sample a number of incredible pies from some very talented cooks AND I may or may not have left some drool behind on a few of The GE Monogram Showroom appliances...sorry about that GE! I was seriously thinking of asking GE if they would take my husband (in a swap) for one of these babies...

Do you see that HUGE refrigerator? I am smitten! We are going to begin renovating our kitchen (finally... yeah me!) in early 2013 and I now know I NEED that refrigerator in my life!

By the way sweetie, I was juuust kidding, I would never trade you for a refrigerator (it's kind of hard to type with one's fingers crossed). Love you babe!

I was lucky enough to be sent home with a bottle of Smirnoff's Kissed Caramel Vodka and I decided to use some for that yummy cocktail I mentioned above and some I got a little creative with aka I did not drink it lol! I decided to add some of the vodkas to one of my cheesecakes, then I spied apples on my kitchen counter and decided to saute some apple cubes in the vodka as well. It was GOOD! Especially the apple part! I am not much of a cheesecake eater, that's my man's job. But the apples, I would seriously make them this way just to eat OR to put over ice cream! Holy YUM!!

Kissed Caramel Vodka Cheesecake

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
16 ounces sour cream
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
2 TBS Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Vodka
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs, room temperature

Topping

¾ cup sugar
¼ cup Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Vodka
2 cups of diced Apples (I use a Honeycrisp or Gala)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 or 10-inch springform pan (or 4-6 mini springform pans). Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy, add in sour cream and mix well. Add in sugar, cornstarch, vodka and vanilla and blend well. Add in your eggs, one at a time until blended. Bake 1 hour or until set.

I turn off the oven and allow my cheesecakes to cool there. Often, I will gently run a sharp knife around the cheesecake to be sure it is not attached to the pan just after I turn the oven off. I then loosen the ring and close it up again. This usually prevents cracks for me. If a crack happens on this cake...no biggie, you have the apples on top 🙂

To make the topping. In a large sauté pan, combine sugar and vodka and bring to a boil. Add in apples and sauté until apples are tender and sauce is syrup-like.

Top the cake with the apples and syrup up to an hour before serving. You can also sprinkle a bit of cinnamon & sugar overtop the apples if you like. Enjoy!!

To see a list of some of the sweet, savory and gluten-free pies from this event click here.

Recipe

To find out more about the pies and this annual event, check out these posts:

Co-host Ken of Hungry Rabbits recap , warning his photos may make you drool right on your keyboard!
Salted Caramel Tart | Cranberry Walnut Tart Hungry Rabbit NYC
Peking Duck Pie The Experimental Gourmand
Lemon-Lime-Coconut Tart The Experimental Gourmand (Had this one it was in my top 3!)
Curried Chicken Pie Savory Sweet Living
Maple Butter Tarts High Low Food Drink
Cognac Infused Pecan Pie A Pug In The Kitchen