Apricot Almond Cheesecake

A delicious and rich cheesecake recipe, showcasing the harmony of the proven apricot and almond pairing. Cheesecake, lightly infused with vanilla bean, topped with a sweet apricot/brandy compote, fresh sliced almonds, and drizzled with cream cheese icing. The end result is a sweet, slightly topping forward cheesecake with a rich and creamy base and a soft and buttery graham crust.

INW Apricot: One of the stars in this recipe. A strong flavoring and quite apparent even at 0.5%. This provides a nice, ripe apricot flavor with some slightly floral top notes that combine beautifully with almond. SC Apricot: If you love apricots and peaches, this is a must have for your flavor arsenal. A bright and slightly candied apricot with notes of yellow peach. I used this to help bring INW apricot down to a more "cooked" level for the compote. FA Almond: At 0.75% this was enough to imitate a few sliced almonds on top of the cheesecake. FA Bourbon Vanilla: This brings a nice rich vanilla to the cheesecake, while lending some of its darker character and warmth to the compote. FA Brandy: At 0.5% this provides the compote with a bit of warmth and a light dose of brandy flavor. TPA Brown Sugar: The base of the compote. 0.75% is enough to soften up the apricots and provide a cooked/caramellized nature. Also contributes to the soft graham crust. LA Cream Cheese Icing: This provides the drizzle of icing on top of the cheesecake and lends a bit of tanginess to help authenticate the cheesecake body. FW Graham Cracker: Combines with the sugar cookie to create the soft graham crust. CAP New York Cheesecake: The rich and creamy cheesecake base. I pushed this up to 5% so it could hold up better against the bolder toppings. CAP Sugar Cookie: This mainly helps to lend a bit of weight to the graham crust and cheesecake body, while also providing some texture and sweetness to the recipe. CAP Super Sweet: Optional, however I feel that this recipe benefits from a small addition.

So there you have it, a rich and decadent cheesecake that is full of flavor and hard to put down. Hopefully some if you will love this recipe as much as I do. I feel that this recipe is good enough after a shake but 5-7 days will let everything come together fully. Take care and keep mixing!