Low-Carb Cheesecake

By Shirl

Very good!

A review:
I have made 4 or 5 of these cheesecakes now and they just get better and better each time I tweak the recipe a little. I really want to dulicate the Cheesecake Factory's look and taste as much as possible so for this last cheesecake I did, I made a crust that covered not only the bottom but the sides and then all the way up to the top of the sides. You need to triple the amount of almond meal you use and also the amount of sweetner. For the butter, I use more then whats called for because I find the almond meal tends to be a bit dry and when you use a little more melted butter, its easier to mold on the sides of the pan. Below is my ingredient list for the crust. 6 cups of almond meal 1 cup of broken walnut pieces (very small, but not crushed) 7-8 Tablespoons of melted butter. (use 7 and if it needs it, use one more) 6 Tablespoons of splenda or sweetner of equal value. You can make this w/out the walnuts, but I swear up & down it is killer with the nuts. Amazingly good. For the cheesecakes themselves, I'll share with you how to do the different flavors I've tried. My #1 favorite is my Sugar Free Caramel Nut Cheesecake. To die for and doesnt taste like a diet dessert at all. You can serve this to anyone and they'll never know. After you've baked your crust, pour only half the cheesecake batter into the pan. Then, take sugar free carmel sauce and drizzel zig zag lines all over the batter. Take a butter knife and stick it in the batter to blend a little and make the zig zag lines a little more of a swirl look. Be careful not to do it too much or you'll blend the caramel all the way in and wont be able to see the contrast. Next, pour the remaining batter into the pan and drizzel another good helping of caramel sauce in zig zag lines all over the top and once again, use the knife to blend the caramel into uniform swirls. You should see a good contrast between the cheesecake color and the caramel color. It should look like tan and while swirls. I've read here where people leave it in the fridge for 24 hours before eating. Why do that? You dont have to wait that long. Just put it into the freezer once its out of the oven and in 2 or 3 hours its ready to eat. You can use sugar free chocolate fudge ice cream topping to do your swirls throughout the cheesecake as another alternative. Using these items doesnt make it AS low carb as just the plain cheesecake, but once you get to the point where you can play a bit, try the caramel recipe. Its fantastic!

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 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
• 1 teaspoon liquid splenda (or maybe less, this is what I used last time)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (not ground, just chopped small)
• 4 Tablespoon melted butter
• 10 drops Splenda

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oven to 375 F.

Tip: If you have bricks or a pizza stone or unglazed ceramic tile*, put them on the lower rack of the oven. This will hold the heat in the oven. This is good for cheesecakes not baked in a water bath. (Well, actually, it's helpful for any kind of baking, as it keeps the heat in the oven more constant. I keep a pizza stone in the oven most of the time.)

Combine ingredients for crust, and press into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until fragrant and beginning to brown.

Raise oven heat to 400 F, or lower to 350 F if you're using a water bath (see below).

Put 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.

Instructions for water bath: Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil, put it in a baking pan and pour boiling water around the sides. Bake at 350 F for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 F, remove from oven.

Instructions for non-water bath: For this method, you start the cake at a high temperature, and it slowly drops. If you have stoneware, bricks, etc, this allows it to happen at a slower rate, and I get better results in less time. 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.

Chill completely. Top with fruit, if desired, such as Sugar-Free Strawberry Topping or sugar free preserves.

Makes 16 servings.

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

* Alton Brown of the "Good Eats" TV show says of pizza stones: "You could march down to Gourmets 'R Us and plop down 30 or 40 bucks for a pizza stone. But a well-placed, unglazed quarry tile for 99 cents from a building supply will do the job just fine."