bavarian apple torte

Sometimes I wonder about the names of recipes. This tried and true recipe has a fancy name, but the name is taken straight from the pages of Taste of Home magazine. What makes it a torte and not a cheesecake, I don't know. Apples and cinnamon isn't a combination I would have placed on top of a cheesecake-like base, but this is incredible. I bought a springform pan just so I could make this dessert. If at all possible, splurge (in China) to buy tart apples. And then eat a slice or two while you're making the torte and marvel at the wonderfulness that is a tart apple.

BAVARIAN APPLE TORTE (serves 12-14)

crust:
¾ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cup flour
½ tsp vanilla extract

filling:
2 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
¾ tsp vanilla extract

topping:
3 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

COMBINE the first four ingredients. Press onto the bottom of an ungreased 9 inch springform pan.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Pour over the crust.

COMBINE topping ingredients; arrange* over filling. Bake at 350°F degrees for 55-65 minutes or until the center is set. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator. Cut into wedges with a serrated knife.

*the recipe calls for you to spoon the apples on top. My mother decided that was lame and arranged hers in concentric circles. (She is more artistic than she lets on.) I've kept with her alteration, arranging my apple slices one at a time, starting with the outer circle, and overlapping slightly until you get to the center. (Truth be told, I cut the apples smaller in the center to make the innermost ring, then place another apple slice, cut into a small circle, in the center.) The end result resembles a flower.