Sunday, December 4, 2011

Another Low Carb Treat: Cheesecake!

One of my favorite desserts has always been cheesecake. I've even requested it more than once as my birthday cake. Anyway, I've already explained several times that I'm on a modified Atkins diet, and am experimenting with recipes to make it more tolerable. And "tolerable" means not compromising taste, or at least, not by much.

So, I started thinking about desserts, and it occurred to me that cream cheese is low carb. And, that it's cheesecake's main ingredient. There had to be a recipe for it with low carb ingredients. And how hard could a faux graham cracker crust be?

As it turns out, both were doable, and there are many to choose from online. Here is the recipe I used for the crust:

"GRAHAM CRACKER" PIE CRUST
  • 3 ounces almond flour, 3/4 cup
  • 3 tablespoons flax meal
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup granular Splenda
  • (I added a dollop of vanilla--Ed.)

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Pour butter and vanilla over the dry ingredients. Mix well and spread in a 9" pie plate or springform pan. Bake at 375ยบ about 10-12 minutes until set and lightly browned. Cool, then fill the pie.

Per 1/8 Recipe: 153 Calories; 15g Fat; 3g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs; Per 1/12 Recipe: 102 Calories; 10g Fat; 2g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

Source: Genaw

CHEESECAKE FILLING:
  • 3 packages (1 and 1/2 lbs) cream cheese (room temperature)*
  • 4 eggs (preferably room temperature)
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) vanilla
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) lemon juice (we used lime--Ed.)
  • 1 and 1/3 cups sugar equivalent (Splenda) artificial sweetener 
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
Heat oven to 400 F

Put (room temperature) cream cheese in mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy. Add other ingredients, scraping the bowl and beaters each time (this is very important), fully incorporating each ingredient. When all ingredients are combined, scrape one more time, beat one more minute, and pour mixture into pan over crust.

 Put the cheesecake on a sheet pan in case of drippage. After putting the cheesecake in the oven at 400 F, turn the oven down to 200 F. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often after an hour. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 F, remove from oven.

Makes 16 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Each serving has 2 grams effective carbohydrate plus 1 gram fiber, 6 grams protein, and 221 calories.

Source: About.com

Okay, so the cheescake in the photo is mine. It turned out spectacularly well, with the following caveats: I didn't get my cream cheese "room temperature" enough, so the batter was a bit gloppy. The crust--while incredibly delicious--is very thin in a 9" pan.  Next time, I'm going to use a smaller springform pan, and increase the crust recipe. That will make the cheesecake smaller in diameter, but thicker than my relatively flat pie. We didn't add any toppings. This sucker is calorie-laden enough as it is. But it was truly delicious. You could serve it at a party, and nobody--nobody--would have any idea it was "low carb." No way.

*I bought the 3 lb. block of Philadelphia cream cheese at Sam's Club, and cut it in half. It's enough for two cheesecakes. 

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