apricot cheesecake crumble bars

apricot cheesecake crumble bars

• 15 Sept 2025

I love making jam and marmalade but I don't eat much of either. I usually give away the pots of jam or use them in my baking and the remaining jars of jam I store under the bed or in my sunroom. I think I have 2 unopened jars of fig jam, 2 unopened jars of apricot jam, 2 unopened jars of blood orange marmalade, 4 unopened jars of plum conserve and any number of half consumed pots of jam lurking in the fridge. 

Consequently I'm always on the lookout for recipes using jam and that's how I came across this recipe by Sarah Kieffer. I made an apricot version of her creamy jammy coffee cake and added oats to the streusal. The topping and filling were delicious but I wasn't sold on the base layer. I cast my mind back to the raspberry cheesecake crumble bars I made a few years ago and decided the apricot cream cheese coffee cake would work better served as bars with a shortbread base. Off to the kitchen I went and came up with this variation.

Here's the recipe for you which makes an 8 inch cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20-ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Apricot cheesecake crumble bars
Base
175g unsalted butter
⅓ cup (75g) caster sugar
1½ cup (225g) plain flour, sifted
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Crumble
3 tbsp (25g) rolled oats

3 tsp demerara or raw sugar

Filling
2/3 cup apricot jam

1 tbs lemon juice
250g room temperature cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon yoghurt or cream

Method
Grease and line an 8 inch square tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional.

In a food processor, process all the ingredients for the base until a soft dough forms around the blades. Take out 1/3 of the dough (160g) and place in a small bowl. Add the oats and demerara sugar to the dough and place in the fridge. This will form the crumble topping. Take the remaining ⅔ of the dough and press the mixture into the base of the prepared tin. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the base is golden. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

  
Filling

Gently warm the jam in a pan until loose, then remove from the heat. Stir through the lemon juice and then set to one side while you make the cheesecake filling. 

Wipe out the food processor then combine the remaining filling ingredients in the food processor and whiz until smooth then pour over the prepared base. Dot the jam over the cheesecake, then strew over the crumble mix.

Return to the oven and bake the cake for 45 minutes or until the filling is just set and the crumble golden. Allow to cool before storing in the fridge to firm up. 

Cut into squares or bars with a damp knife before serving. The bars will keep for 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. They will start to soften after 2 days but are still delicious. These are best served at room temperature. 

These apricot cheesecake crumble bars with their crisp shortbread base, filled with a creamy cheesecake filling brightened with a pop of apricot jam then topped with oaty crumbs were a treat. If I were to make any changes, perhaps I'd add a teaspoon or 2 of lemon rind to the cheesecake layer just to add a bit more of a citrus zing.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian