Cheesecake Crumble Pie

I have been highly absent from Daring Baker challenges due to work, baby, and difficulty converting to gluten free.  However, this month I thought looked like fun and would be a good conversion.  For the month of November Krista & Nicole of “Two Cups of Sugar.” challenged us to make our own version of cheesecake crumble pie.  Too late in the month, I realized that there was a savory option, which I think my family would REALLY enjoy.  But, I decided to make this for my contribution for THanksgiving dessert.  David wanted strawberry version.  I used a gluten free pie crust mix that I had purchased on clearance.  Then to convert the crumble, I just used gluten free flour instead of regular flour.  It turned out really good.  The biggest issue I had was that by the time the first 15 minutes were gone, the top had crusted over and there wasn't anywhere for the crumble to stick; so, I had to break the top of the cheesecake.  The flavor was great and David really liked it.  My favorite part was the crumble.  Of course, I've always had a weakness for crumble! :-)

Cheesecake Crumble Pie
Pie crust:
Preheat oven to 425°F.  Prepare desired pie crust recipe.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Lightly flour working area and roll out dough to fit 1 - 2” / 2.5 - 5cm larger than the pie pan. Gently place in pie pan and fold under excess dough. Prick the dough several times with a small knife or fork and fill with beans, baking weights or an 8” / 20cm cake pan to help keep shape during baking. Bake for 9 minutes.

CheeseCake:
Ingredients
16 oz / 450g cream cheese
¾ cup / 150g white sugar
½ tsp grated lemon zest
¼ tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup / 60ml heavy cream
Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 500°F / 260°C / Gas Mark 10.
Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and add sugar gradually while beating until smooth (about 1 - 2 minutes).  Beat in vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Beat in eggs on at a time until incorporated.  On low speed, beat in heavy cream. Pour half of the filling into prepared crust then top with desired fruit, chocolate, etc.

Put the remaining cheesecake batter on top, then place into oven.  Bake for 15 minutes at 500°F.  Meanwhile, make crumble.

Ingredients
1 cup scooped and levelled / 140g all-purpose (plain) flour
½ cup / 75g rolled oats
1 cup / 200g white sugar (if you don’t want this to be overly sweet you can cut the white sugar in half)
⅔ cup / 135g brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ cup / 1 stick / 113g cold unsalted butter
Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients together in small mixing bowl. Add butter and crumble together until it resembles a coarse meal (pea-sized).

Top cheesecake with crumble after the initial 15 minutes and return to oven at reduced temperature of 200°F / 95°C / Gas Mark lower than 1/2 and bake for 1 hour more. Turn the oven off, prop the door ajar with the handle of a wooden spoon, and let the cake cool in the oven for 30 minutes.  Then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving. Enjoy!