Recipe #10 - Cheesecake



Cheesecake - before & after

The holidays are upon us, so this is the perfect time to share a dessert recipe to get you through the minefield of sweets that will stretch through Valentine's Day!!!  This cheesecake is not just a nice dessert/ teatime snack; I often have a slice for breakfast when I'm too rushed to whip up eggs.  I eat it plain or with some fresh berries or with a dollop of sugar-free preserves.  It's a fairly simple recipe aside from the laborious mixing & the long baking time.  I've included a variation for CHOCOLATE flavor, too!

Ingredients:

Crust:

·         1 ½ cups almond meal

·         1 heaping Tablespoon wheat bran

·         1 heaping Tablespoon ground flaxseed

·         3 Tablespoons butter

·         2 Tablespoons Splenda

Filling:

·         3 packages (1 ½ lbs) full fat cream cheese (room temperature)

·         4 eggs (room temperature)

·         2 Tablespoons vanilla

·         1 teaspoon almond extract

·         1 ½ teaspoons ( ½ Tablespoon) lemon juice

·         1 1/3 cups Splenda (or 3/4 cup Splenda + 7 packets stevia)

·         1/4 cup full fat sour cream

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Melt the butter in a 8"x8" baking dish.  Add the remaining crust ingredients & mix to evenly disperse the melted butter.  Then smooth out the crumbly mixture over the bottom & lower sides of the dish to form the crust.  Bake for ~7 minutes, until the crust is golden NOT brown.

While the crust is baking, mix all the ingredients for the filling, save for the cream cheese, in a large mixing bowl until well-combined.  I use a whisk for a little biceps workout!  But you wimps (lucky dogs!!!) with stand mixers can use those instead.  ;-)  Next, whip in the cream cheese, one packet at a time, so that the final cheesecake will be airy & smooth rather than dense & lumpy.  ROOM TEMPERATURE cream cheese & eggs are key here!  Top the baked crust with the filling mixture then return to the oven.  Immediately lower the oven temperature to 250F.  Then bake for 1 hour or more until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  My cheesecake always cracks, which I hear is a no-no.  But I don't mind - it doesn't affect the flavor.  Chill then enjoy!

For chocolate cheesecake:

Crust: Use ground hazelnuts instead of almond flour + 2 Tablespoons cocoa

Filling: use 1 Tablespoon cocoa + almond extract + vanilla – lemon juice

Inspiration recipe: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/lcarbcheesecake.htm