Apple, Cinnamon & White chocolate cheesecake

I've been having a little Christmas break in blogging, and it's actually more than a week from the last time I posted something. I haven't had time to cook anything else than Christmas food, and it feels it's about a time to start doing something else. Yesterday I visited my dear friend in Nummela, and I had promised to bake a cheesecake and to bring it with me. I wanted to try something new, and I got an inspiration when I thought about the apple & cinnamon cookies one of my friends had gave me as a Christmas present. Then straight away I decided to make a cheesecake with the apple & cinnamon theme, I added some white chocolate to the filling to give extra delicious flavour. And there were also apple sauce and cinnamon in the filling, of course. I must say this cake was very excellent, delicate and unique, it was perfect. When my friends ate it they were speechless, and one of my friends said that he will order this cake to his wedding! So I was very pleased, because I wasn't sure at all if this cake would be good. I think I'll make it again, quite soon. Because it was so perfect.

Ingredients:

150g Bergen apple & cinnamon cookies

100g cinnamon Bastogne cookies (about ten pieces)

(if you can't find those cookies, use somekind of cinnamon cookies or digestive cookies)

100g butter or margarine

For the filling:

600g philadelphia cream cheese

200g creme fraiche (not low-fat)

3 eggs

200g white chocolate

juice of one lemon

grated zest of one lemon

2 dl powdered sugar

125g applesauce (you can buy it, but try t use one without any added sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon (you can put two, if you like it)

1. Heat the oven into 170°C. Crush the cookies well, melt the butter and mix with the cookie crumbs.

2. Line the base of the springform pan with a parchment paper, butter the sides of the pan. Spread the cookie crumbs on the base.

3. Melt the white chocolate.

4. Beat the chocolate (when it has cooled down a bit) with the creamcheese and the creme fraiche until smooth. Add vanilla extract, cinnamon, grated zest of lemon, juice of lemon, apple sauce, powdered sugar and the eggs. Mix carefully until smooth.

5. Spread over the cookie crumbs, even up.

6. Bake in the oven for 1,5 hours, take the heat off and let the cake stand in the oven for couple of hours. Then remove, cool down in the room temperature and keep in the fridge over night.

7. If you want to, you can decorate the cake with some cinnamon sprinkled over. Enjoy in a good company!