Project Cheesecake

Maybe I'm getting a little domesticated diva in me.  Who knows.  But my project the other day was to make a cheesecake.  I'm not the best when it comes to the kitchen, but I have tons of gadgets and pretty dishes to toss around--might as well bake something, right? 

This is Paula Dean's recipe for caramel apple cheesecake.  The only reason I picked this recipe was because it said to purchase an already made crust.  I guess it wouldn't be that tough to make a crust, but I don't currently own a spring form pan, and I'm all about the easy factor.

Here's what you'll need...

• 1 21 ounce can apple pie filling
• 1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust
• 2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese at room temp
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup caramel topping
• pecans for topping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and reserve 3/4 of the apple filling.  Spoon the rest of the filling into the bottom of your crust.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Like so.....

Add the eggs and keep on mixin'!!

Pour this into your pie crust over the apple filling.

**note...see my lumps?  Not good.  It should have been smoother, but it still turned out freaking amazing!

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center of the cake is set, and then cool to room temperature.
Voila!

Mix the reserved pie filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan and heat for about 1 minute o runtil spreadable.  *sorry no picture for this*  Spoon the mixture over the top of the cheesecake evenly and sprinkle the pecans on top.  Refrigerate the cheesecake until ready to serve!

The end result?  A happy husband!