Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cake with Biscoff Pecan Crust – the most delicious and moist apple cider cake, baked on a Biscoff pecan crust, topped with a no-bake cheesecake filling, apple pie filling, salted caramel and Biscoff buttercream.
No Bake Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
Did you get a chance to make my No Bake Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars? Oh, I sure hope so! They are so simple to make and so incredibly delicious. I was so in love with them, in fact, that I had to turn the bars into a cake.
Here’s what’s in the bars:
- Biscoff pecan crust
- Cheesecake filling
- Apple pie filling
- Salted caramel
For the cake, I used all four of these elements, in addition to apple cider cake and Biscoff buttercream. You may recognize the cake layers from my Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake and the buttercream from my Oatmeal Biscoff Cake.
The flavors in this cake are the epitome of fall and I think you’re going to love it!
HOW TO MAKE CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE CAKE
The Biscoff Pecan Crust
- You’ll start by prepping your three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick spray and parchment paper. Parchment paper is key to getting a good release.
- Combine Biscoff cookies, pecans, sugar and melted butter in a food processor. Pulse for a few minutes, until the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Press the crust into the three pans.
The Apple Cider Cake
- This simple cake starts with combining all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, you’ll combine the wet ingredients (ensuring all refrigerated ingredients are room temp).
- Then you’ll mix the two together and pour the batter over the crusts.
- This one bakes at 325 degrees F for about 30 minutes.
- Don’t forget – the cake layers are done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- IMPORTANT: pans matter! I love Fat Daddio pans from Gygi. If you don’t have pans yet, these are the pans I’d get.
The No Bake Cheesecake Filling
- For the filling, whip the heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks and then set aside while you mix the cream cheese and sugar together in a separate bowl.
- Once the cream cheese mixture is smooth, you’ll then fold in the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
The Apple Pie Filling
- To make the apple pie filling, start by peeling the skin off the apples.
- Dice them and toss them in lemon juice.
- You’ll then combine the apples over the stove with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook until just softened. Drain the extra juices. Refrigerate to cool.
How to Make Homemade Caramel
- For the caramel, combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup over the stove. Cooking on medium heat, the sugar mixture will start to cook. Once it becomes an amber color, remove from heat, slowly add warm cream, vanilla and salt.
- Head over to my Homemade Salted Caramel post for the full tutorial.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
To get a light and fluffy homemade buttercream frosting for this Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cake, I have a detailed post: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM to give you in depth instruction for making your buttercream unreal! Here’s a quick overview.
- Sift your powdered sugar
- Use slightly cold butter and mix on its own for 2 to 3 minutes
- Use heavy whipping cream
- Beat for 5 minutes
- Stir by hand
NUT REPLACEMENT
Can’t do nuts? No worries! Just replace the amount of nuts with more Biscoff cookies. To get the nutty flavor without the nuts, you can then brown your butter!
More Cakes to Love
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cake with Biscoff Pecan Crust
Apple cider cake layers, baked on a Biscoff pecan crust, with a no bake cheesecake filling, apple pie filling, caramel and Biscoff buttercream.
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST
- 20 (160 g) Biscoff cookies
- 1 cup (100 g) pecans
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (5 g) ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (1 g) nutmeg
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp (21 g) baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar
- 1 cup (224 g) vegetable oil
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (250 g) applesauce at room temperature
- 1 cup (248 g) apple cider at room temperature
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) vanilla extract
FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 g) heavy whipping cream
FOR THE APPLE PIE FILLING
- 3 cups (450 g) Granny Smith apples peeled and diced
- juice of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons (37.5 g) brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon (2.1 g) cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.1 g) nutmeg
FOR THE CARAMEL
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 g) water
- 4 teaspoons (27.2 g) light corn syrup
- 3/4 cup (180 g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
FOR THE BISCOFF BUTTERCREAM
- 1 1/2 cups (339 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
- 1 cup (250 g) Biscoff spread
- 5 cups (625 g) powdered sugar measured then sifted
- 1/4 cup (60 g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
FOR THE CRUST
- Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
- In a food processor or blender, combine the cookies, pecans, and sugar. Pulse until the mixture resembles sand.
- Add the melted butter and pulse util the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Evenly divide the crumbs between the three cake pans (about 5 ounces in each). Press firmly into a crust. Set aside. ***(This crust is a little thinner than others I've done. If you want a thicker crust, you can double the recipe).
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar and oil. Mix on medium speed to combine.
- Add the eggs to the sugar mixture and mix on medium speed for about two minutes.
- Add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, add ⅓ of the flour mixture, followed by half of the apple cider. Continue alternating the flour mixture and the apple cider, finishing with the flour mixture. Mix until no streaks of flour remain. The batter will be slightly thin, not thick.
- Divide the batter between the three cake pans (about 17 ounces in each), pouring the batter right onto the Biscoff crust. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
- In a medium size mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- In a chilled stainless steel bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in the heavy whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
FOR THE APPLE PIE FILLING
- Combine the apples and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Toss to coat the apples.
- In a large saute pan, combine the apples, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg over medium heat.
- Cook the apples, stirring occasionally, until softened.
- Drain the excess juice and refrigerate apples in an airtight container to cool and store.
FOR THE CARAMEL
- Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves and then STOP stirring. Stirring creates crystallization.
- Allow the mixture to boil on its own.
- Once the mixture turns amber in color (about 380 degrees F), remove from heat and slowly add warm cream while stirring (heating the cream first ensures you don't get clumps of caramel).
- Add the vanilla and salt. Stir to combine.
- Cool to room temperature before using.
- Caramel can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You'll need to heat it up slightly to thin it out and make it pourable.
FOR THE BISCOFF BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and Biscoff spread. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about a minute.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar, followed by the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and salt.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 3 to 5 minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Before frosting your cake, mix the buttercream by hand with a spatula or large spoon to push out the air pockets.
ASSEMBLY
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, in the center of a cake board or a cake stand.
- Pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake.
- Spread half of the cheesecake filling over the cake layer, followed by half of the apple pie filling. Gently press apples into place.
- Drizzle caramel over the apples.
- Repeat these steps for the next cake layer.
- Place the final cake layer, top side up, on the second layer of fillings.
- Apply a thin coat of buttercream over the cake. This is the crumb coat. You'll then freeze the cake for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat and lock in the crumbs.
- After the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream.
OMG this cake is so delicious!!! This is the fifth cake I’ve made using your recipes. I have celiac disease and change all recipes to gluten free ones! I managed to find GF flavored biscoff cookies and biscoff flavor cookie butter. Amazing results for this one and all the others I have made.
Thank you for sharing your recipes!
So happy you loved it!
Absolutely delicious and worth every step in making this. Made this for my son-in- law who loves apple crisp and cheesecake and Apple Bundt cake, but doesn’t eat cake. He loved it! My daughter asked me where I found the recipe and my 18 year old son said cakesbycourtney, do you even have to ask! My son is already looking for the cake he wants at his birthday (his favourite is the Oreo Cake).
Love that! 🙂
Dying to try this with a cinnamon element along with some matching cupcakes for my
daughter-in-law’s baby shower! I’m salivating just thinking about it!! Did you put the Biscoff pecan crust on the bottom of the cake as well as between layers? Testing this out will be a dream!!
Your cakes are by far my favourites”
Got a big crowd for a birthday party. Is there any way this cake could be made as a sheet cake instead of a layer cake? Looking for simple but still decadent.
For sure! it would fit great in a 9×13″ pan for a thick layer or if you’re okay with a thinner cake layer, you can do a half sheet pan.
I’ve been eyeing this cake for a while now & im so excited to make it! I’m going to make cupcakes also, and I’m wondering if you would do the Biscoff crust on the bottom of the cupcakes? Thank you!
YES!
Amazing!!! One of the best, seriously. This cake has a lot of components but they were all pretty simple to make, and as usual I did the day before assembly. I would suggest not to be shy with the caramel inside the cake, I thought I had probably put too much but the taste was great and it wasnt too caramel-y. I loved the balance of flavors (and of course textures) and particularly due to the filling, its not too heavy on the sweetness. At least for me. I like the cakes that have fillings and only frosting for the outside of the cake so people who aren’t fans of buttercream don’t have to eat the edges. I will say that I didnt get much of a cheesecake taste from the slice, to me it tasted similar to an apple crisp, so if you’re not the biggest fan of cream cheese/cheesecake, its not heavy on that. Overall perfection again, Courtney!