I've spent most of my life in Upstate New York, and this season means cool days & crisp nights, vibrant colors, high school football games – and apples! When I found this recipe I gazed in awe – three of my favorite things rolled into one. I mean, what could make an apple crisp even more perfect? Bake it on top of a layer of cheesecake, and drizzle it with caramel, that's what! It's my Mom's birthday, and I asked her if I were to bake a pie, would she prefer apple or pumpkin (I've got another great one coming, folks!) - she said she liked them both but would prefer apple. Then I promptly informed her that I was NOT baking a pie, which left her totally perplexed... Not anymore! Needing to tweak (just part of my nature), I added a touch of both lemon juice and peel to the cheesecake layer, a pinch each of ginger, ground cloves, and allspice to the apple spices, and HAD to add pecans (Mom's favorite) to the streusel topping... While the recipe says to drizzle the caramel sauce over the entire tray, and then add some more(?) I opted to serve it strictly on the side... Oh, and I used this recipe from Ree Drummond to make my own caramel sauce... Ignore the instruction there that says “until it starts to thicken” and just go by the time – 5 to 7 minutes once it starts to boil. It will thicken as it cools, and if you keep on boiling, you'll end up with a jar of hard candy! I nuked for a minute before I served to make it pourable. I think it went over pretty well .