When we saw that the spotlight cheese at Trader Joe's this month was apple pie cheddar cheese, I was prepared to hate it. It sounded like it would be really sweet, and not only am I not a huge fan of mixing fruit in with more savory foods, but I haven't loved that many sweet cheeses in the past. But despite all of my bias against it, I wanted to try it, and it helped that A was pretty intrigued by it. It sounded interesting, and I figured that at least if I did hate it, I would know for sure in the future and never get it again.
As I sliced up the cheese, it smelled incredibly sweet, just like apple pie, and I was already disliking it. But once I tried the first piece of cheese, my opinion completely changed. It reminded me of eating slices of sweet apples with cheese cubes or slices from cheese plates (which I had obviously completely forgotten that I do). It was refreshing, not overly sweet, and lightly spiced. The cheddar cheese here was infused with apple cider, soaked dried apples, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and the key, I think, was that the infusion was done with restraint. All the elements of apple pie - the comforting spices, the sweetness and tartness of apple - combined well with the cheddar cheese here, mostly because they weren't overpowering at all, but just an accent.
We ate this with the enchanting crackers from Trader Joe's, which, since they are also a little on the sweeter side, were a great fit. The suggestion on the sign at the store had been to melt it on a cheeseburger, and I'm still not sure whether I agree with that, but the cheese itself gets a rave from us.
Buy Again? Maybe. It'll only be around for a little longer (if they haven't already sold out) since it's the spotlight cheese, so we might already be out of luck.
As I sliced up the cheese, it smelled incredibly sweet, just like apple pie, and I was already disliking it. But once I tried the first piece of cheese, my opinion completely changed. It reminded me of eating slices of sweet apples with cheese cubes or slices from cheese plates (which I had obviously completely forgotten that I do). It was refreshing, not overly sweet, and lightly spiced. The cheddar cheese here was infused with apple cider, soaked dried apples, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and the key, I think, was that the infusion was done with restraint. All the elements of apple pie - the comforting spices, the sweetness and tartness of apple - combined well with the cheddar cheese here, mostly because they weren't overpowering at all, but just an accent.
We ate this with the enchanting crackers from Trader Joe's, which, since they are also a little on the sweeter side, were a great fit. The suggestion on the sign at the store had been to melt it on a cheeseburger, and I'm still not sure whether I agree with that, but the cheese itself gets a rave from us.
Buy Again? Maybe. It'll only be around for a little longer (if they haven't already sold out) since it's the spotlight cheese, so we might already be out of luck.
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